The meeting of the planetGOLD Mongolia-Phillippines Regional Project Steering Committee (RPSC) was held on September 24, 2024, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. 

The meeting was chaired by Mr. Roger Tissot, Executive Director of Artisanal Gold Council (AGC), the executing agency, and was attended by the RPSC member representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia, Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines, Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources of Mongolia, the Bank of Mongolia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Provincial Government of Camarines Norte of the Philippines, the Mongolian Artisanal and Small-scale Mining Federation, and UNIDO representing the implementing organizations.

At the meeting, planetGOLD Mongolia and Philippines project team provided updates on both projects’ implementations and facing challenges. Also, officials of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia, Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines delivered presentations on the collaboration with both projects and they emphasized that the mercury-free processing systems (MFPSs) established by planetGOLD Mongolia-Philippines are a groundbreaking experience for both countries' artisanal miners, not only eliminating mercury usage but also increasing financial access of artisanal miners, and that they will be serve a transformative role in this sector.

The AGC proposed the need for project extension due to reasons for the need to gather sufficient production data from MFPSs, address land access issues in Mongolia, and fully operationalize financial access mechanisms for artisanal miners. In response, the RPSC members voiced their support for the extension, recognizing the importance of these issues in ensuring the long-term success of the projects. Consequently, the project extension to September 2025 was approved.