Artisanal Gold Council and UN Environment Programme Global Mercury Partnership

This technical guide provides a comprehensive framework for estimating mercury use, gold production, and workforce size in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. It is intended to support countries in meeting the requirements of the Minamata Convention on Mercury through the development and implementation of a National Action Plan. The document outlines a structured, step-by-step methodology that covers national sector scoping, research planning, field data collection, data compilation, and analysis. It explains how to generate site-level, regional, and national baseline estimates using multiple independent data sources and systematic cross-checking. The guide also presents standardized field forms, spreadsheet-based analysis tools, and procedures for triangulation, extrapolation, and data quality control to strengthen the reliability of the resulting estimates.