Traditional small-scale mining has a long history in Colombia. According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy in 2014, artisanal gold production occurred in 19 out of the 32 sub-national departments with a majority of small-scale producers operating informally. A 2018 study estimated 300,000 artisanal miners in Colombia extracting gold, diamonds, emeralds, coal, tin, tantalum, and construction materials. Efforts are ongoing by the government and local and international organizations to support the formalization of the sector and eliminate the use of mercury in mining (formally banned by the government in July 2018).