Global Opportunities for the Long-term Development of ASGM (GOLD+) in the Republic of the Congo To prevent damage of human health and ecosystemsâ€™ pollution by reducing mercury use in the ASGM sector in the Republic of Congo. Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency. The project addresses the core paradigm that miners must generate enough additional profits to offset the costs of formalization, which is a condition for accessing new partners, new markets, and innovative financing mechanisms. Nonetheless, the access to further to additional profits for the beneficiaries depend on the social, economic, and geological local context of each targeted areas (the Departments of Bouenza, Sangha and Kouilou), the. Miners will start increasing their economic benefits early in the project roll-out through the following avenues:  The integration of miners’ representatives in the dialogue platforms (at the local and regional levels) will increase the acknowledgment of this type of actor with respect to the national public administration and will contribute to accelerate the legalization process.   The reduction of harassment by government officials: the local and departmental multistakeholder platforms will be a forum for information exchange and grievance mechanism. By confronting local decision makers with their practical problems, miners will be able to reduce the pressure often exerted by local government and police officials. It is known that some officials take advantage of the informal nature of the sector to racket miners and extract revenues from them. It is expected that these platforms will augment peer pressure from mining organizations over corrupt officials. Therefore, miners (especially the most vulnerable ones), will benefit from a cleaner, less corrupt enabling environment.  Enhancing the dialogue at local level will also benefit to the communities by identifying and proposing adequate services for artisanal and semi-mechanized operations, which will be supported by community saving systems. The dialog platforms will also open the chance to improve grievance mechanisms between communities and semi-mechanized operators.  Specific training sessions will improve the perception of vulnerable groups (ethnic minorities, women, migrants, etc.) and thus their integration in the mining activity will be improved. This may lead to improved revenues for such groups that are quite active in the ASM sector.  Reduction of elite capture: similarly, vulnerable miners are often excluded from their traditional mining areas and from the richest deposits by semi-mechanized operators. The local multistakeholder platforms will give miners a stronger voice to defend their economic interests.  Enhanced financial management: the capacity building programme offered to selected mining organizations (Outcome 2) will benefit miners in various ways. (1) The most vulnerable miners will benefit from the organizational governance modules, which is expected to increase inclusiveness. (2) Miners will also increase their revenues through better productivity; specific technical modules will lower their operational expenditure hence maximize their outputs. (3) Finally, other technical modules will improve their sales capacity by giving them better understanding of pricing, or by incentivizing them to treat and purify their gold better before first sales.  Access to regulated markets: practical knowledge of due diligence mechanisms will enable mining organizations to access international regulated markets, which will lead them toward larger, more secure outlets. Revenue streams will be less affected by sudden economic contingencies and externalities, which are more frequent in the informal value chain. Predictable revenue streams will enable better financial projections, which will prevent miners to rely on debt.  Mining techniques: the vocational training programme (Output 3.3) will enhance the productivity of mining organizations by strengthening their capacity to explore, map, or assay. Miners will earn more revenues in shorter time periods.  Savings: the savings &amp; loans capacity building programme (Output 2.1) will provide a better economic safety net to miners who will be less constrained to rely on expensive local credit. It is expected that internal loans will offer better rates than the available informal credit providers.  The formalization process should also greatly facilitate the access to formal loan systems that may be proposed by microfinance institutions and, in the frameworks of a potential national sector policy, by national institutions, as a support to integration in the formal economy. Investment: the mobilization of private investors is likely to inject new capital into the selected ASGM areas. This will translate into increased production, hence more revenues for miners.  Efficient equipment: the introduction of highly efficient mercury-free equipment will increase gold recovery rates through gravitational methods while reducing labor harshness, thus better revenues.