Abstract Gold has been mined in the area surrounding the small town of Las Juntas de Abangares in Northwestern Costa Rica for over 100 years. Originally through large-scale foreign-based industrial mining operations, now gold is exclusively mined and processed by local, artisanal small-scale gold miners. With the increasing price of gold and the lack of alternative income generating activities over the past 20 years now more than 400 families in this region depend on artisanal gold mining as their only source of income. In this paper, I explore historical and current practices; and opportunities and barriers to achieving sustainability objectives regarding this mining activity within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. Potential policy, technical, and community development efforts that protect the environment and public health while maintaining or improving income generation for this impoverished community are explored. These include the introduction of mercury-free processing techniques that also increase yield, the formation of cooperatives, vertical integration and product development, the development of gold related tourism, and sustainability certification programs.

中文翻译：

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哥斯达黎加 Las juntas de Abangares 的手工金矿开采：实现可持续发展目标的方法和障碍

摘要 在哥斯达黎加西北部的 Las Juntas de Abangares 小镇周围地区开采黄金已有 100 多年的历史。最初通过大规模的外国工业采矿作业，现在黄金完全由当地的手工小规模金矿商开采和加工。随着过去 20 年黄金价格的上涨和替代创收活动的缺乏，现在该地区 400 多个家庭依赖手工采金作为他们唯一的收入来源。在本文中，我探讨了历史和当前的实践；在可持续发展目标的背景下实现与采矿活动有关的可持续性目标的机会和障碍。潜在的政策、技术、探索在保护环境和公共健康的同时维持或改善这个贫困社区创收的社区发展努力。其中包括引入无汞加工技术也能提高产量、合作社的形成、垂直整合和产品开发、黄金相关旅游业的发展以及可持续性认证计划。