D-ISN: TRACK 1: Understanding and Disrupting Key Convergence Nodes of the Illicit Gold and Mercury Supply Chains in Latin America and Africa

这一非法供应网络破坏行动（D-ISN）奖将有助于更好地了解非法供应链以及发现、破坏和禁用它们的能力，从而促进国家健康、繁荣和福利。该项目涉及审查和比较拉丁美洲和非洲非法黄金和汞全球供应链中的关键汇聚节点。报告特别着重于秘鲁和肯尼亚，因为这两个国家在各自的大陆上具有相似的特点，都是通过空运和海运与其他区域市场的重要贸易中心，也是其他非法商品和货物的贸易中心。此外，两国都有重要的手工和小规模黄金开采部门，这些部门通常在非法黄金供应链开始的非正式黄金生产地点开展业务，并使用汞从矿石中提取黄金，这代表了汞供应链的末端。这为跨两大洲的比较分析提供了机会。秘鲁面临的一项重大挑战是，没有与黄金和汞供应链有关的非法活动的有组织记录，这给作出打击这些活动的决定带来了困难。此外，肯尼亚作为东非非法黄金的新兴中心，特别是来自刚果民主共和国的ASGM部门的黄金，尚未得到彻底审查。此外，世界各地的行动者都参与了黄金和汞的供应链，秘鲁和肯尼亚的微观问题具有全球影响，其中一些问题直接关系到美国的国家安全。更彻底地了解非法黄金和汞供应链的运作方式，将有助于针对非法行为者的政策和执法干预措施，同时又不会对弱势社区造成不当伤害。这项研究将促进对秘鲁和肯尼亚非法黄金和汞供应链的了解，这些黄金的国际目的地，以及进入这些国家的汞的来源。它试图填补国际自然保护联盟（IUCN）最近协调的研究中提出的知识空白：汞和黄金供应链之间的相互依赖性。我们的跨学科团队拥有工程、社会科学、计算机科学和法律方面的专业知识，将绘制黄金从内陆地区到主要出口中心的路线，以及汞从主要进口中心到内陆矿区的路线。将特别强调黄金和汞供应链的海上和空中动态，重点关注非法汞和黄金供应链流动和相交的主要汇聚节点或集结点、转运枢纽和行为体。本研究扩展了用于评估和了解非法供应链的方法，整理了公开可用的数据，如监测平台数据，并对手工和小规模采金者和社区成员、黄金和汞交易的其他经营者以及安全、执法和监管执法方面的来源进行了人种学实地调查。通过将这些数据与图形分析方法相结合，我们将开发出识别跨国模式的模型，有助于破坏非法黄金和汞供应网络，并与正在发生并与全球供应链网络相连的其他类型的非法活动建立联系。该项目将对STEM研究生进行跨学科研究方法的培训，使他们接触到矿物供应链的复杂性，为他们提供更好地了解这些供应链的工具，并允许他们与来自不同学科的教师、学生和合作者合作。这项研究代表了一项协调一致的努力，利用现有和新兴技术，如机器学习和先进的数据分析，不仅在目标国家，而且在面临相关挑战的其他国家，为公共政策提供信息。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Disrupting Operations of Illicit Supply Networks (D-ISN) award will enhance national health, prosperity and welfare by contributing to a better understanding of illicit supply chains and the ability to detect, disrupt, and disable them. The project involves an examination and comparison of key convergence nodes in the global supply chains for illicit gold and mercury in Latin America and Africa. It specifically focuses on Peru and Kenya because of the similar characteristics they share on their respective continents as important trading hubs to other regional markets via both air and maritime transport, as well as acting as trading hubs for other illicit commodities and goods. In addition, both countries have significant artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sectors, that often operate at sites of informal gold production where the illicit gold supply chain begins and that use mercury to extract gold from the ore, representing the end of the mercury supply chain. This provides an opportunity for comparative analysis across two continents. One major challenge in Peru is that there are no organized records of illicit activities related to the gold and mercury supply chains, which presents difficulties in making decisions to combat them. Additionally, Kenya has not been thoroughly examined as an emerging hub for illicit gold in East Africa, especially gold from the ASGM sector originating from the DRC. Furthermore, actors from around the world are involved in the gold and mercury supply chains, and the micro problems in Peru and Kenya have global implications, including some that directly bear upon the national security of the United States. A more thorough understanding of the ways in which the illicit gold and mercury supply chains operate will support policy and enforcement interventions that target illicit actors without unduly harming vulnerable communities. This research will advance knowledge of the illicit gold and mercury supply chains in Peru and Kenya, the international destinations of this gold, and the origins of the mercury entering the countries. It seeks to fill a knowledge gap raised in recent research coordinated by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN): the co-dependency between the mercury and gold supply chains. Our interdisciplinary team with expertise in engineering, social science, computer science, and law will map the routes of gold from inland sites to major export hubs and the routes of mercury from major import hubs to inland mining sites. Particular emphasis will be placed on the maritime and air dynamics of the gold and mercury supply chains by focusing on the major convergence nodes, or collection points, transshipment hubs, and actors through which the illicit mercury and gold supply chains flow and intersect. This research expands the methodologies used to evaluate and understand illicit supply chains, by collating publicly available data, such as surveillance platform data and conducting ethnographic fieldwork with artisanal and small-scale gold miners and community members, other operators in the gold and mercury trades, and sources in security, law enforcement, and regulatory enforcement. By combining these data with a graph analytics approach, we will develop models that identify patterns transnationally and can help to disrupt both the illicit gold and mercury supply networks, as well as make connections with other types of illicit activities occurring and connected to global supply chain networks. This project will train STEM graduate students in interdisciplinary research methodologies, expose them to the complexities of mineral supply chains, provide them with tools to better understand these supply chains, and allow them to work with faculty, students, and collaborators from different disciplines. This research represents a concerted effort to leverage existing and emerging technologies, such as machine learning and advanced data analytics, to inform public policy not only in the targeted countries but also in other states facing related challenges.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.