The rise of 'Mine-golia'
The pit lamp gives off a resplendent glow. Only his eyes are visible, the rest of his face protected by a piece of black cloth.
And in this light, the Mongolian miner really does resemble a Japanese ninja, the warriors him and his fellow miners have been nicknamed after.
One also understands comparisons made with characters from those well-loved comic books, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; gold washers in Bornuur started out carrying green bowls on their back, their silhouettes replicating those of the cartoon heroes. Gold, copper, coal, rare minerals-the country set between China and Russia has plenty of resources. The mining industry has had tremendous effects on Mongolia’s traditional nomadic lifestyle, and it does not seem possible at this time in history to understand Mongolia without falling into the mining industry’s cavities, which lead deep down into a resource wonderland.
However, despite a skyrocketing economic growth predicted over the next decade, the overall population has yet to benefit from the economic boom-except those who have given up their nomadic living to dig for gold or coal by themselves. In fact, the country would be better represented as ‘Mine-golia’, far from that once proud nomadic empire founded by Ghengis Khan.
Visiting the ‘ninjas’ Deep in the Selenge hills, about 80 km up north from Ulan Bator, Danbiisurenjav has seen 46 winters. This makes him too old to work for the big mining companies. But without a proper education, even a younger version of himself could not stand a chance with the Boroo Gold commercial mine, a giant mine operator which has full rights to the very ground the ninja miner is standing on.
In Mongolia, NGOs have sprouted up everywhere, like those white ger houses of the nomads. Danbiisurenjav is the manager of the NGO Bopt Yoho, which has 103 members who participate in legally- questionable small-scale mining. “We’re Mongolians,” he says in defense of their work. “We have a right to mine here.” Co-worker Khurelbaatar wears a T-shirt printed with the words ‘Traveling Places’. Asked where he has actually traveled to and he answers, “China, for construction work.” Digging for gold lifts 40- year-old Khurelbaatar’s monthly income high above the 90 Euro Mongolian average, and allows him to support his wife and baby who live in Tunkhel, 22 km away. Last month, allegedly a bad one, one ninja alone earned about 300 Euro. The usual rate is about 50,000- 55,000 Tugrik for 1 gram of gold. Converted, that is a tiny bit more than 30 Euros.
A team of five people working together on a five- hectare area can sell close to 50 grams of gold, which in the face of a stable 30 percent poverty rate since the opening of the borders in 1990, is certainly a good deal. A new approach The streets of Tunkhel, specifically the front of the city hall, reminds one of the settings of Big Lebowski-minus the mandatory brushing past of tumbleweed. Other than that, what could well be the Wild West of Mongolia lies before the mayor’s office.
Tunkhel is a former timber-turned-gold-rush-town in Mandal Soum in the Selenge province, which has grown from just 200 to 3,800 inhabitants over a short few years. And it has been greatly affected by the small-scale mining operations. So much so that mayor Sajnyatav Radnaabazar decided to go knee-deep into cooperation with the ninja miners who have families living here. With the support of World Vision and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Radnaabazar has come up with a plan to strike a deal between the ninjas and the management of the Canadian- run Boroo Gold.
The approach is simple:
If you want to control them, legalise their actions, and consequently, cut down the illegal trading of gold. In the mayor’s office, pale, pink curtains throw a soft light on the hanging horse head fiddle next to a map of the Selenge province. Across the room there is a kitschy painting of a horseman next to a baby-blue river. Sitting on gaudy orange plastic seats normally reserved for football stadiums, the mayor explains his current situation. “An official contract between the city, the ninjas and license holders has not yet been issued,” the 55-year-old says. “But everything is underway to improve the situation for all involved parties.” The umbrella company Centerra Gold, at present, employs only 400 people to work a 360-hectare area at the Boroo Gold mine, and yearly, Centerra Gold pays 180,000 Euros to the Mandal Soum district. As a globally operating company, the Canadian management has a vested interest in polishing their image and to befriend that 15 percent of the Mongolian populace-near about 400,000 including family members-that depends on small-scale mining as an income source.
The ninjas, too, want to operate by daylight with a proper license, instead of having to sneak off into the mountains in the middle of the night, risking their safety. “Artisanal mining”-Dashdorj Zorigt, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy carefully pronounces the official term for the ninjas during an interview at the Ulan Bator state palace-”is not illegal anymore if it is done under certain conditions.” He recalls that the current decree was adopted last year, which allowed miners to work in certain areas selected by local authorities. Zorigt assures that land will be issued if miners do everything by the book. This would effectivly include forming cooperatives, obeying environmental, labour and child protection laws, avoiding the use of mercury, paying taxes and social security contributions-and selling the extracted gold to the Mongolian State Bank or a similar, licensed trader. “We hope this way illegal artisanal mining will be completely prohibited,” he says.
The effects
‘E pluribus unum’ (Out of many, one) was once the motto most appropriate for the Mongolian people. History shows that the land’s charisma is unique, with nomadic lifestyle at its core. Wide acres, soft hills and abiding horses that always return to their owners, the nomadic lifestyle is in equal parts harsh and pure. Mongolian culture and landscape, however, will change within the next decade. The volatile dynamic between the ninjas and industrial giants like Boroo Gold alone will affect the overall mining economy, and a look into the crystal ball shows that the mining industry is already knocking at the threshold of Mongolia’s traditional seclusion. It would seem only a matter of time until the “last wilderness nation” is devoured by its alter ego, ‘Mine-golia’. As an old nomad woman, the 75-year-old Toghtogh, said over a cup of butter tea in the Terelj National Park: Ever since the country shooed communism beyond Chinese and Russian borders “the wildness has become far less”. She could not have described the dramatic economical and societal changes of the past 20 years in a more succinct, poetic manner. But they will manage, somehow. Mongolia is too big a country with too strong a national heritage and too much Ghengis-Khanesque pride to simply become one big cavity. At least we can hope as much.
Beatrice Jeschek is an Erasmus Mundus freelance journalist, specialising in War and Conflict Published by HT Syndication with permission from EKantipur.com. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com
Please note that this article has not been written, is not copyrighted and does not in any case represent the views or opinions of M.A.D. Investment Solutions or any of its affiliate individuals or companies. The article above is purely meant for information only to readers and does not constitute a legal or biding agreement in any way, shape or form. For contact and comments directly relating to the above article, please refer to the source as stated below.
Source : I Stock Analyst
And in this light, the Mongolian miner really does resemble a Japanese ninja, the warriors him and his fellow miners have been nicknamed after.
One also understands comparisons made with characters from those well-loved comic books, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; gold washers in Bornuur started out carrying green bowls on their back, their silhouettes replicating those of the cartoon heroes. Gold, copper, coal, rare minerals-the country set between China and Russia has plenty of resources. The mining industry has had tremendous effects on Mongolia’s traditional nomadic lifestyle, and it does not seem possible at this time in history to understand Mongolia without falling into the mining industry’s cavities, which lead deep down into a resource wonderland.
However, despite a skyrocketing economic growth predicted over the next decade, the overall population has yet to benefit from the economic boom-except those who have given up their nomadic living to dig for gold or coal by themselves. In fact, the country would be better represented as ‘Mine-golia’, far from that once proud nomadic empire founded by Ghengis Khan.
Visiting the ‘ninjas’ Deep in the Selenge hills, about 80 km up north from Ulan Bator, Danbiisurenjav has seen 46 winters. This makes him too old to work for the big mining companies. But without a proper education, even a younger version of himself could not stand a chance with the Boroo Gold commercial mine, a giant mine operator which has full rights to the very ground the ninja miner is standing on.
In Mongolia, NGOs have sprouted up everywhere, like those white ger houses of the nomads. Danbiisurenjav is the manager of the NGO Bopt Yoho, which has 103 members who participate in legally- questionable small-scale mining. “We’re Mongolians,” he says in defense of their work. “We have a right to mine here.” Co-worker Khurelbaatar wears a T-shirt printed with the words ‘Traveling Places’. Asked where he has actually traveled to and he answers, “China, for construction work.” Digging for gold lifts 40- year-old Khurelbaatar’s monthly income high above the 90 Euro Mongolian average, and allows him to support his wife and baby who live in Tunkhel, 22 km away. Last month, allegedly a bad one, one ninja alone earned about 300 Euro. The usual rate is about 50,000- 55,000 Tugrik for 1 gram of gold. Converted, that is a tiny bit more than 30 Euros.
A team of five people working together on a five- hectare area can sell close to 50 grams of gold, which in the face of a stable 30 percent poverty rate since the opening of the borders in 1990, is certainly a good deal. A new approach The streets of Tunkhel, specifically the front of the city hall, reminds one of the settings of Big Lebowski-minus the mandatory brushing past of tumbleweed. Other than that, what could well be the Wild West of Mongolia lies before the mayor’s office.
Tunkhel is a former timber-turned-gold-rush-town in Mandal Soum in the Selenge province, which has grown from just 200 to 3,800 inhabitants over a short few years. And it has been greatly affected by the small-scale mining operations. So much so that mayor Sajnyatav Radnaabazar decided to go knee-deep into cooperation with the ninja miners who have families living here. With the support of World Vision and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Radnaabazar has come up with a plan to strike a deal between the ninjas and the management of the Canadian- run Boroo Gold.
The approach is simple:
If you want to control them, legalise their actions, and consequently, cut down the illegal trading of gold. In the mayor’s office, pale, pink curtains throw a soft light on the hanging horse head fiddle next to a map of the Selenge province. Across the room there is a kitschy painting of a horseman next to a baby-blue river. Sitting on gaudy orange plastic seats normally reserved for football stadiums, the mayor explains his current situation. “An official contract between the city, the ninjas and license holders has not yet been issued,” the 55-year-old says. “But everything is underway to improve the situation for all involved parties.” The umbrella company Centerra Gold, at present, employs only 400 people to work a 360-hectare area at the Boroo Gold mine, and yearly, Centerra Gold pays 180,000 Euros to the Mandal Soum district. As a globally operating company, the Canadian management has a vested interest in polishing their image and to befriend that 15 percent of the Mongolian populace-near about 400,000 including family members-that depends on small-scale mining as an income source.
The ninjas, too, want to operate by daylight with a proper license, instead of having to sneak off into the mountains in the middle of the night, risking their safety. “Artisanal mining”-Dashdorj Zorigt, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy carefully pronounces the official term for the ninjas during an interview at the Ulan Bator state palace-”is not illegal anymore if it is done under certain conditions.” He recalls that the current decree was adopted last year, which allowed miners to work in certain areas selected by local authorities. Zorigt assures that land will be issued if miners do everything by the book. This would effectivly include forming cooperatives, obeying environmental, labour and child protection laws, avoiding the use of mercury, paying taxes and social security contributions-and selling the extracted gold to the Mongolian State Bank or a similar, licensed trader. “We hope this way illegal artisanal mining will be completely prohibited,” he says.
The effects
‘E pluribus unum’ (Out of many, one) was once the motto most appropriate for the Mongolian people. History shows that the land’s charisma is unique, with nomadic lifestyle at its core. Wide acres, soft hills and abiding horses that always return to their owners, the nomadic lifestyle is in equal parts harsh and pure. Mongolian culture and landscape, however, will change within the next decade. The volatile dynamic between the ninjas and industrial giants like Boroo Gold alone will affect the overall mining economy, and a look into the crystal ball shows that the mining industry is already knocking at the threshold of Mongolia’s traditional seclusion. It would seem only a matter of time until the “last wilderness nation” is devoured by its alter ego, ‘Mine-golia’. As an old nomad woman, the 75-year-old Toghtogh, said over a cup of butter tea in the Terelj National Park: Ever since the country shooed communism beyond Chinese and Russian borders “the wildness has become far less”. She could not have described the dramatic economical and societal changes of the past 20 years in a more succinct, poetic manner. But they will manage, somehow. Mongolia is too big a country with too strong a national heritage and too much Ghengis-Khanesque pride to simply become one big cavity. At least we can hope as much.
Beatrice Jeschek is an Erasmus Mundus freelance journalist, specialising in War and Conflict Published by HT Syndication with permission from EKantipur.com. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com
Please note that this article has not been written, is not copyrighted and does not in any case represent the views or opinions of M.A.D. Investment Solutions or any of its affiliate individuals or companies. The article above is purely meant for information only to readers and does not constitute a legal or biding agreement in any way, shape or form. For contact and comments directly relating to the above article, please refer to the source as stated below.
Source : I Stock Analyst
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