Indonesia: Adaptation and Differentiation in Informal Gold Mining

Abstract

With some 900 small-scale mining sites throughout the country, Indonesia’s informal gold sector is large and growing. This chapter explores key influences and trends in this sector with a focus on the iterative development of gold mining crystallizations. First, it presents a national-level overview of the historical expansion and diversity of informal gold mining in Indonesia. Next, it describes how these general patterns have combined with local sociopolitical and material influences to shape the particular forms of gold production present in the Pongkor mining region of West Java. It highlights three transformative moments in Pongkor’s history: the region’s emergence as an informal gold mining site in the mid-1990s, the reconfiguration of gold production following increased policing efforts in the early 2000s, and the introduction of cyanidation technologies in the late 2000s. This historical trajectory illustrates the complex interplay of diverse, and often social and political rather than technical, influences that give shape to mining crystallizations. Taken as a whole, it provides a temporal picture of informal mining’s dynamic adaptability but also a troubling trend of socioeconomic differentiation.