CASM:Communities, Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Home

What is CASM?

CASM is a global networking and coordination facility with a stated mission to “to reduce poverty by improving the environmental, social and economic performance of artisanal and small-scale mining in developing countries.” CASM is currently chaired by the UK's Department for International Development and is housed at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Watch here for presentations and summary report to be posted soon.

For other information about the 8th ACC, click here.

Take a look at our new publications
	Walikale: Artisanal Cassiterite Mining and Trade in North Kivu Implications for Poverty Reduction and Security Press Release This report commissioned by the Multi-donor Communities and Small-scale Mining Secretariat based at the World Bank was written by Nicholas Garrett of UK-based Resource Consulting Services Limited. The report details the production and trade in cassiterite (tin ore) in conflict torn Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and their implications for poverty reduction and security in the region. The study finds that armed groups continue to be directly involved in tin mining in North Kivu, but warns that the emphasis on the economic dimension of the conflict risks losing sight of the underlying economic and political opportunities and pathologies in the regional minerals sector, which have to be addressed before buoyant tin prices can be expected to help lift the population of this war ravaged region out of poverty and for the tin trade to become an active driver of peace.
	Small Stories: 12 Stories about small-scale mining Through a comprehensive approach to artisanal mining, the World Bank and CASM aims to transform artisanal and small-scale mining from a source of conflict and poverty into a catalyst for economic growth and sustainable development. The 12 short stories in this booklet are just an illustration of concrete results achieved on the ground over the past five years and of the great potential for accelerating poverty reduction if more projects like these are implemented around the world.
	Certification and Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining: An Emerging Opportunity for Sustainable Development CASM is supporting initiatives seeking to make possible the certification of artisanally-mined minerals as ‘ethical’ because it offers a great opportunity for stimulating sustainable development in artisanal mining communities.This paper provides a background to the emergence of minerals certification as a tool for stimulating sustainable development in artisanal mining com-munities and presents the role of the CASM Secretariat in supporting initiatives in this area.