Officials from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Philippines, and the Provincial Government of Camarines Norte, along with representatives from the Artisanal Gold Council (AGC)—the executing agency of the planetGOLD Mongolia and Philippines projects—visited key stakeholders of Mongolia's artisanal mining sector on September 23, 2024, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The delegation, including representatives from the planetGOLD Philippines and Mongolia projects, met with the Artisanal and Small-Scale National Federation of Mongolia (ASM NF) to discuss ongoing issues and explore collaborative efforts in supporting artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).

During the meeting with ASM NF, Chairman Mr. Narantugs Norov and Executive Director Mr. Tserenchunt Baljinnyam outlined the federation's activities and highlighted the sector’s ongoing challenges. Mr. Narantugs emphasized the positive outlook for ASM following the recent ASM Conference initiated by Mongolia’s newly appointed Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources of Mongolia. He remarked that the government’s commitment to address regulatory issues and collaborate with artisanal miners is a promising step towards resolving challenges within the sector.

Mr. Tserenchunt shared that the federation is focused on two key initiatives: developing a centralized database for the ASM sector to improve formalization and access to finance for miners and conducting a social and economic evaluation of the sector to provide a clearer picture for policy development. He expressed hopes for continued support from the AGC and planetGOLD in advancing these initiatives.

Ms. Hoa Lai, Project Administrator at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), expressed her appreciation for the open discussion on Mongolia's ASM sector. She noted that the ASM NF's initiative to conduct a social and economic evaluation would significantly contribute to formalizing the sector.

AGC Executive Director, Mr. Roger Tissot, also expressed his gratitude for the collaboration between the ASM NF and the planetGOLD Mongolia project. He expressed that AGC is open to work on exploring additional funding sources to support the federation’s work.