INTERNATIONAL UNION OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES INITIATIVE ON FORENSIC GEOLOGY: 11 YEARS OF PROGRESS AND COUNTING!

The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) Initiative on Forensic Geology (IFG) was established at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France on 22 February, 2011. The aim of the IUGS-IFG is, “to develop forensic geology internationally and promote its applications.” To that end, the IUGS-IFG developed a global consortium of multidisciplinary scientists and representative from the geology profession, policing, and law enforcement and related forensic geoscientists, and have organized and delivered approximately 460 training and outreach events. IUGS-IFG delivered a forensic geology themed issue of the IUGS publication, “Episodes,” in 2017, and a comprehensive book on forensic geology, A Guide to Forensic Geology, in 2021. In 2020, the IUGS-IFG began work on an IUGS sponsored “Special Project” on the “Forensic Geological Analysis of Crimes in International Mining, Minerals and Metals Industries”. This project will evaluate the scope and scale of mining related crime and explore geological methods that could be used in the mitigation and investigation of such activity. Deliverables include a special publication in “Episodes” on the current state of illegal mining mitigation, as well as recommendations for improved detection, prevention, management and mitigation by including geological methods. In July 2022, the IUGS-IFG, along with attendees from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), public oversight institutions, ministries and mining companies, and law enforcement personnel from about 19 countries participated in an international seminar sponsored by INTERPOL and the Brazilian Federal Police(BFP) on, “Gold Forensics and Illegal Gold Trade Investigation” at the National Institute of Criminalistics in Brasília, Brazil. The purpose was to develop a greater understanding of how criminal gangs, cartels and terrorist organizations operate in the minerals, mining and metals industries, and how the associated risk may be investigated and mitigated.