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A system for making mercury-free gold mining practical, verifiable, and economically viable.
Mercury persists in artisanal and small-scale gold mining not because miners don’t care, but because the systems they operate in offer no safe, affordable, and verifiable alternatives.
Informal markets reward speed and opacity, not safety or efficiency. In those conditions, mercury remains the most practical option — even when its harms are well known.
PACTO is not a technology, certification, or enforcement program. It is a framework for aligning incentives so that mercury-free practices become the most practical choice available.
When systems work, mercury disappears — not by mandate, but because it is no longer necessary.
Learn more at PACTO Gold
Global Effects
0M
miners must handle mercury daily in order to make a living.
0%
of total gold supply comes from artisanal gold mining.
0%
of all mercury pollution worldwide comes from artisanal gold mines.
0M
people's lives depend on artisanal gold mining.
0k lbs
of mercury inadvertently released by miners each day
$0B
in gold is produced each year by artisanal gold miners.
