Artisanal miners benefit from the launch of rural One-Stop Service centres

The establishment of two One-Stop Service (OSS) centres in Darkhan-Uul and Bayankhongor aimags to assay and buy gold at international prices will save local miners time, money and the stress of long-distance.

The OSS centres - jointly established by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s Sustainable Artisanal Mining Project, the Bank of Mongolia and the Precious Metals Assay Inspection Department of the Mongolian Agency for Standardization and Metrology - also has the potential to formalise the gold supply chain, improve gold traceability and transparency, and enable better control of the volume of gold exploration.

“It’s a good opportunity to sell our gold directly to the new One-Stop Service centres without middlemen,” said Tsetsgee Magnai, head of Bayankhongor aimag’s Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Federation. “Additionally, we will be able to get official information on how many tonnes of gold is produced and how much tax is paid by artisanal miners under the improved registration system.”

Gold production accounts for 9.1 percent of Mongolia’s export earnings. As of August 31, 2018, BoM purchased 12.2 tons of gold, of which 54.7% was sourced from individuals including ASMrs and gold traders. However, Mongolian gold sector is facing challenges on how to make gold production sales traceable and transparent and stop tax evasion.

To improve legal environment for gold supply chain formalization, the Governmen of Mongolia has decided to establish one-stop shops for assaying and purchasing ASM gold, and it is piloted in two locations: Darkhan and Bayankhongor. For the two new OSS centres, SDC and the Bank of Mongolia invested MNT 790 million (312 thousand USD) for the purchase of laboratory equipment, with the government funding the operational and human resource costs. The Darkhan-Uul and Bayankhongor aimag governments also provided financial support for laboratory refurbishments from their Local Development Funds.

The Bank of Mongolia plans to open two more service centres in different locations next year.