Dr. Peter Appel is an economic geologist and researcher on the faculty of Copenhagen University´s Geological Survey Institute of Denmark and Greenland, with over 30 years of experience in mineral re-sources assessment. He is a world authority on introducing alternatives to mercury use in artisanal small scale gold mining (ASGM) in economically disadvantaged countries, with more than 10 years of experience in small-scale mining issues comprising environmental and health problems related to mercury use, where 25 % of all the mercury discharged into the planet´s soil and water originate. He works in more than 12 countries teaching and training miners replacing gold extraction using mercury with mercury-free gold extraction methods in Bolivia, Peru, Suriname, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Mali, Mongolia, Nigeria, Philippines, Tanzania and Zambia. Has promoted the mineral resource potential on the international scene for Laos, Yemen, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Greenland. He has written handbooks for staff of Environmental Council of Zambia, Ministry of Mines in Nigeria and Ethiopia dealing with environmental and health issues related to small-scale mining.