Mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has captured global attention and concern for decades. Policy makers and development practitioners routinely promote awareness campaigns and technical assistance to address mercury use in ASGM; however, this focus obscures other barriers that stand in the way of addressing mercury emissions from the sector. Focused on the town of Relave, in the Ayacucho Region of Southwestern Peru, this paper examines the perspectives and practices of some of the community members who are involved with ASGM activities. It highlights their own views of the challenges related to ASGM and explores the ways in which they are addressing these challenges. Despite their efforts, this paper reveals that there are two key barriers to controlling mercury use in Relave, which lie outside of the communities’ lack of awareness and technological capabilities. These include the deprioritization of mercury use and pollution among community members as compared to other community and public health concerns and inequities in the supply chain that position miners and mineral processors with little to no control over the distribution, use, and emissions of mercury. The implications of these findings for policy decisions, regulatory schemes, and development initiatives are not only relevant to Peru, but are also significant for other countries committed to addressing mercury emissions from ASGM.

手工和小规模金矿开采（ASGM）中汞的使用已引起全球关注和关注数十年。决策者和发展从业人员定期开展宣传运动和技术援助，以解决手工和小规模采金中的汞使用问题；但是，这一重点消除了解决该部门汞排放的其他障碍。本文以秘鲁西南部阿亚库乔地区的Relave镇为重点，考察了参与手工和小规模采金活动的一些社区成员的观点和做法。它强调了他们对与手工和小规模采金有关的挑战的看法，并探讨了他们应对这些挑战的方式。尽管他们付出了很大的努力，但本文还是揭示了在Relave中控制汞使用的两个主要障碍，这是由于社区缺乏意识和技术能力所致。与其他社区和公共卫生问题以及供应链中的不平等相比，这些措施包括降低社区成员对汞的使用和污染的优先次序，这使采矿者和矿物加工商几乎无法控制汞的分配，使用和排放。这些发现对政策决策，监管计划和发展计划的影响不仅与秘鲁有关，而且对致力于解决手工和小规模采金的汞排放的其他国家也具有重要意义。与其他社区和公共卫生问题以及供应链中的不平等相比，这些措施包括降低社区成员对汞的使用和污染的优先次序，这使采矿者和矿物加工商几乎无法控制汞的分配，使用和排放。这些发现对政策决策，监管计划和发展计划的影响不仅与秘鲁有关，而且对致力于解决手工和小规模采金的汞排放的其他国家也具有重要意义。与其他社区和公共卫生问题以及供应链中的不平等相比，这些措施包括降低社区成员对汞的使用和污染的优先次序，这使采矿者和矿物加工商几乎无法控制汞的分配，使用和排放。这些发现对政策决策，监管计划和发展计划的影响不仅与秘鲁有关，而且对致力于解决手工和小规模采金的汞排放的其他国家也具有重要意义。