Uganda's commitments under the Minamata Convention require a phased reduction of mercury in artisanal gold processing. Training in borax smelting and gravity concentration has reached a growing number of sites in Mubende and Buhweju.
Why adoption lags the training
Mercury is cheap, fast and familiar, and it delivers recovery on the same day. Gravity and borax methods require more equipment, more time and, critically, a change in how a team splits its earnings at the end of a shift.
The missing incentive
No buyer in the domestic chain pays more for mercury-free gold. Until the central bank programme or a refiner attaches a premium, the environmental argument competes with an immediate income loss and generally loses.
Health data
District health facilities near processing centres report symptoms consistent with chronic exposure, but systematic biomonitoring has not been carried out. Without that data the policy debate stays anecdotal.
What would move the needle
A modest, funded premium at licensed buying points, paid against a simple site certification, would do more in a year than a decade of awareness campaigns.