Page | 16Mining is a pillar of the Mongolian economy.
Most extraction operations are of the open-pit
type. Mongolian law requires that all open-pit
mines be reclaimed after the mine closes, but in
practice the law is not uniformly enforced. In
some cases, mining companies get around
reclamation requirements by simply going out of
business, leaving no other corporate entity legally
responsible for the clean-up.77,^78
In some rural areas, artisanal (small-scale) mining has increasingly become a means of
livelihood for tens of thousands of poor Mongolians.
(^79) The “ninja” miners—so-called
because of the green gold-panning bowls carried on the miners’ backs that remind some
of the cartoon characters the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—have had a significant
negative effect on many of Mongolia’s rivers and lakes and on its grasslands.80,^81 Water
dredging and diversions for mining have caused some rivers and lakes to go dry.^82 In
addition, environmentally damaging chemicals such as mercury and cyanide have been
used by some of the ninjas.^83
Several international companies are also operating large-scale mining projects in
Mongolia.
84
(^77) Morris Rossabi, “Culture and the Market Economy,” in Modern Mongolia: From Khans to Commissars
to Capitalists” (Berkeley/Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2005), 177.
With this international investment comes consequences for the environment.
According to one analyst, “[a] mining boom in Mongolia is threatening to devastate the
country’s rivers and is forcing nomadic herders to abandon their land and traditional way
http://books.google.com/books?id=wmQLorr9QCgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
(^78) Brian Awehali, “Mongolia’s Wilderness Threatened by Mining Boom,” Earth Island Journal, The
Guardian, 11 January 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/11/mongolia-wilderness-
mining-boom
(^79) World Bank, “A Review of Environmental and Social Impacts in the Mining Sector,” May 2006, 1,
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMONGOLIA/Resources/Mongolia-Mining.pdf
(^80) Louis Lim, “Mongolians Seek Fortune in Gold, But At a Cost,” National Public Radio, 7 September
2009, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=
(^81) Stefan Lovgren, “Mongolia Gold Rush Destroying Rivers, Nomadic Lives,” National Geographic News,
17 October 2008, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/10/081017-mongolia-mining-
missions.html
(^82) Stefan Lovgren, “Mongolia Gold Rush Destroying Rivers, Nomadic Lives,” National Geographic News,
17 October 2008, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/10/081017-mongolia-mining-
missions.html
(^83) Louis Lim, “Mongolians Seek Fortune in Gold, But At a Cost,” National Public Radio, 7 September
2009, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=
(^84) Mark Fonseca Rendeiro, “Mongolia’s Mining Wealth is Cause for Concern,” The Guardian, 15 May
2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/15/mongolia-mining-wealth-concern