Governing the Ungovernable? Conceptualising embeddedness in Ghana's gold mining sector

Abstract

The term “artisanal” refers to primitive, non-industrial, or pre-industrial handicrafts. Because they contribute less revenue to state agencies, produce lower mineral export volumes, apply less sophisticated technologies, frequently violate mining certification and licensing arrangements and/or evade state oversight, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities are typically viewed less favourably by host governments than large-scale mining. Despite commitments to render ASM governable, formalisation practices overlook specific dynamics in the sub-sector: notably, the increasing uptake of advanced technologies, its multi-actor nature, and its untold capacity to create employment opportunities and provide adequate raw materials for the domestic jewellery industry. Moreover, unsanctioned mining activities persist despite formalisation efforts. Based on an extensive qualitative study and institutional-level interviews, this article highlights the inevitable complementarities between large-scale mining and ASM. It reveals collaborations between diverse formal and informal actors and institutions that enable and constrain responsible mining in Ghana. It also shows how ASM, and large-scale mining interdependencies maintain each mining scale's operational efficiency and profitability, contributing to this blurring. To grasp the governance challenges in Ghana's gold mining sector, we introduce the “mining-scale embeddedness” framework, focusing on institutional, operational, and actor levels of embeddedness to elucidate dilemmas surrounding gold mining governance.