Artisanal And Small-scale Mining Activities Research Articles

Artisanal Mining River Dredge Detection Using SAR: A Method Comparison

Challenges exist in monitoring artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities, given their dynamic and often informal nature. ASM takes form through various techniques and scales, including riverine dredging, which often targets the abundant alluvial gold deposits in South America. Remote sensing offers a solution to improve data collection, regulation, and monitoring of the more mobile and elusive ASM activities and their impacts. Mapping ASM riverine dredges using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is one of the application areas least explored. Three semi-automated detection approaches using Sentinel-1 SAR are compared on their ability to identify dredges with minimal false positives. The methods are: (i) Search for Unidentified Maritime Objects (SUMO), an established method for large ocean ship detection; and two techniques specifically developed for riverine environments that are introduced in this paper: (ii) a local detection method; and (iii) a global threshold method. A visual interpretation of SAR data with the inclusion of optical high-resolution data are used to generate a validation dataset. Results show it is possible to semi-automatically detect riverine dredge using SAR and that a local detection method provides the best balance between sensitivity and precision and has the lowest risk of error. Future improvements may consider further automation, more discriminatory variables, and analyzing the methods in different environments and at higher spatial resolutions.

Multidimensional poverty and small-scale mining in the shadow of large-scale mines in Papua New Guinea

In this paper, we introduce the novel concept of a ‘residual landscape’ to examine the effects of mine closure on local landscapes and lives. Drawing on our study of the abandoned Tolukuma Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG), we describe the experiences of the people who attempt to make a living from artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) on this residual landscape. We then present fieldwork data on the poverty status of households in Tolukuma based on the use and modification of the Oxford Multidimensional Poverty Index assessment tool. This data is offered against village level poverty assessments in comparable regions in PNG where mining induced impacts have likewise been studied. By attending to the residual landscape, and the livelihood activities occurring on this landscape, we challenge the large-scale bias evident in the literature on mining and highlight the spatial and temporal features of co-existence models driving debates within academic and policy literature on ASM. Importantly, the significant level of ASM activity occurring on the Tolukuma residual landscape provides an opportunity to re-think assumptions about the drivers and experiences of poverty. Specifically, we ask, is it possible for people who appear to be successfully harvesting gold to be categorically poor? And if so, how does this seemingly impossible situation arise? Our data demonstrates why poor people appear to favour large-scale mining despite the harms generated by these activities. We argue that the history of Tolukuma should be read as a cautionary tale for future resource projects noting the persistence of these residual effects throughout the operational and post-operational phase of the mine.

Application of triple bottom line concept to artisanal and small-scale mining activities in Wa East District, Ghana

<p align="justify">The artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector offers a supplementary livelihood strategy to agriculture in northern Ghana, acting as a source of capital to support agriculture. However, the sector has been associated with several adverse environmental and socio-economic consequences, making its sustainability dimensions extremely complex and inconclusive across the literature. This study sought to investigate the dynamics of ASM operations in line with the Triple Bottom Line concept. Specifically, the paper explored the influence of the small-scale mining law and institutional framework on ASM operations, examined the relationship between the economic benefits of ASM and other livelihood activities, and assessed the adverse environmental effects of ASM in the host communities. The research design was a mixed method and cross-sectional survey. Household questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation were the main primary data collection techniques. Secondary data were provided by satellite images sourced from USGS Earth Explorer. They were analysed to determine the land cover types. The results indicate that the relevant regulatory state institutions lag behind their law enforcement duty. The ASM is a lucrative job that provides quick income to the youth. However, ASM activities affect food crop farming and decrease the quantity and quality of vegetation causing variations in land cover. Consequently, the host communities and ASM cooperatives have employed some land reclamation strategies. The study recommends increased government support to the relevant regulatory state institutions to constantly monitor and sanitize the ASM sector. To eradicate illegal mining, the study advocates for multi-stakeholder consultation and action.</p>

The Livelihood of Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners and Awareness of the Use of 3T Minerals in Rwanda-A Case Study in the Rutsiro District: A Qualitative Assessment.

This article examines the impact of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) on livelihood in mining communities in Rwanda (Rutsiro) where wolframite and coltan are mined. The paper discusses the development of ASM and other entrepreneur activities, in particular agriculture. With ASM activities, there is environmental degradation on the one hand but also an improvement in the well-being of the local population on the other. The 3T (tin, tungsten, tantalum) minerals extracted by ASM are used in the electronics industry for products such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops, which are mainly consumed in the developed world. Based on questionnaires and structured research with miners, it was determined how ASM affects their lives, or whether there is a deterioration or improvement in their well-being. The research builds on previous field research in Rwanda. Because of mining, communities in the mining areas have access to health care, they can pay tuition fees, insurance, etc. On the other hand, the lives of miners are endangered by respiratory diseases, accidents in mines, landslides in mining areas, and other negative environmental impacts. The extraction of these minerals, however, may lead to a worse quality of life for the miners responsible for the extraction in developing countries. This different view is also illustrated by the fact that miners themselves often do not know what 3T minerals are used for. ASM benefits miners from an economic perspective but may worsen their quality of life due to unsuitable working conditions. This study covers a broader understanding of socioeconomic impacts of ASM and tries to point out the lack of awareness about the mining of minerals important for the daily use of modern technologies. This article would like to contribute to the larger debate about the lack of awareness of the origin of 3T minerals.

Capitals in artisanal and small-scale mining in Marmato, Colombia: Using the sustainable livelihoods framework to inform formalization

This paper applies the concept of capitals in the sustainable livelihoods framework (SLF) to examine artisanal and small-scale mining livelihoods in the municipality of Marmato, Colombia and discusses the relevance of these findings to formalization efforts. Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is an important and often traditional livelihood in the rural global south where income generating alternatives are scarce. Marmato is one of South America's oldest gold mining sites, and ASM has been intermittently practiced there since about 500 B.C. The present study maps ASM onto the five capitals of the SLF and identifies several forms of capitals that miners cited as the most relevant for pursuing ASM activities. The results show that artisanal and small-scale gold miners in Marmato strategically combine different forms of capital that enable them to make a living from mining; however, there are key factors that may impact the longer-term viability of artisanal and small-scale mining livelihoods. Although human, social, and financial capital function to support ASM livelihoods, the finite nature of natural capital and deterioration of physical capital erode the potential for sustainability of those livelihoods. This research highlights the utility of closely examining the capitals in the SLF and suggests that a more comprehensive understanding of ASM capitals can better inform formalization policies and associated development interventions.

Artisanal and small-scale mining methods and the Sustainable Development Goal 6: Perceived implications for clean water supply

This paper aims to examine methods of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in Ghana, map their perceived impacts on water resources, and analyse the implications of these perceptions for meeting the targets related to Clean Water of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). The paper draws on 74 interviews with artisanal and small-scale gold miners and other stakeholders to investigate communities’ perceptions of the effects of ASM methods (alluvial mining, surface/open-pit mining, and underground mining) on water bodies. We find that different ASM methods impact surface and groundwater in distinct ways while concurrently having a synergistic negative effect on water bodies. Stakeholders – including community leaders – perceive that the mining methods employed in ASM cause various forms of environmental degradation – thus affecting progress towards SDG 6, target 6.3 (water quality) – and severely hinder the availability of clean water for domestic and agricultural purposes, thus endangering the livelihoods of communities and affecting progress towards SDG 6, target 6.4 (sustainable water use). The community perceived impacts of ASM activities on water resources have implications for community acceptance of formalisation efforts in Ghana. We contend that a better understanding of these perceived impacts can help shape the country’s policy for achieving the targets of SDG 6 in relation to Clean Water by 2030. In particular, we propose that the integration of the Community Mining Scheme as part of formalisation efforts of informal gold mining in Ghana not only responds to SDG 6 target 6b (participation of local communities in water management) but also has the potential to reverse the current large-scale mining ‘bias’ in policy, while addressing the galamsey challenge that contributes to the increasing impact of informal gold mining on SDG 6, targets 6.3 and 6.4.

Artisanal and small-scale mining activities as post-mining land use in abandoned mine sites: a case of Giyani and Musina areas, Limpopo Province of South Africa

South Africa has many artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities that some are registered and others informal and illegal. This paper presents an overview of ASM operations in the vicinity of abandoned mine sites found in Giyani and Musina areas, Limpopo Provine of South Africa. It looks at the mining processes, environmental problems, and health and safety risks of ASM in the area. It also provideds a discussion of practical ways of dealing with the problems of artisanal and small-scale mining operations in a harmonized way with the rehabilitation of the abandoned mine sites. The exploitation of waste rock dumps for aggregate production in Musina demonstrated that formalized ASM activities can be the best alternative uses of the abandoned mine sites. However, artisanal gold mining around Giyani revealed the health and safety risks and environmental problems of these operations. The artisanal gold mining activities worsened the health and safety and the environmental problems of the abandoned mine sites. Therefore, this paper recommends that the efforts of coming up with strategies to formalize and regulate artisanal mining in South Africa be deepened for these activities to be accepteble as sustainable as post-mining land-uses in abandoned mines.

Mapping changes in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) landscape using machine and deep learning algorithms. - a proxy evaluation of the 2017 ban on ASM in Ghana

Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) landscapes form integral part of the Land use land cover (LULC) in the developing worlds. However, the spatial, spectral, and temporal footprints of ASM present some challenges for using most of the freely available optical satellite sensors for change analysis. The challenge is even profound in tropical West African countries like Ghana where there is prolonged cloud cover. Whiles very few studies have used Sentinel-2 data to map change analysis in ASM landscape, none examined the contribution of individual S2 bands to the ASM classifications. Also, despite the capabilities of Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) models for LULC classifications, few studies have compared the performances of different classifiers in mapping ASM landscape. This study utilized Sentinel-2 data, four ML and DL models (Artificial Neural Network –ANN, Random Forest – RF, Support Vector Machines –SVM, a pixel-based Convolutional Neural Network-CNN) and image segmentation to examine the performance of S2 bands and ML and DL algorithms for change analysis in ASM landscape, with the Birim Basin in Ghana as a study area. The result of the change analysis was used to assess changes in LULC during the recent ban on the expansion of ASM in the country. It was found out that ANN is a better classifier of ASM achieving the highest overall accuracy (OA) of 99.80% on the segmented Sentinel-2 bands. The study also found out that the Band 5 Vegetation Red Edge (VRE) 1 contributed most to classifying ASM, with the segmented VRE 1 being superlative over the other predictors. In terms of expansion, ASM increased by 59.17 km2 within the period of the study (January 2017 to December 2018), suggesting that ASM still took place under the watch of the ban. The classification results showed that most of the peripheral of forest and farmland have been converted to ASM with little disturbance within the interior of the forest reserves. The study revealed that, the ban was yielding very little or no results due to a number of policy deficiencies including low staff strength, lack of logistics and low remuneration. Enforcement of legal instruments against ASM and farming activities within the forest reserves, improvement in the monitoring systems and intensification of public education on the value of forest and the need to protect it are some of the major recommendations that could control encroachment on the forest reserves.

Coexistence and conflict between artisanal mining, fishing, and farming in a Peruvian boomtown

A global boom since the early 2000s has spurred major mining projects as well as major social conflicts, with South America standing as a central example on both fronts. Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has also boomed, but academic research on mine-community conflicts has seldom considered the ASM sector. This paper examines the dynamics of conflict and coexistence between mining and other rural livelihoods in a Peruvian ASM boomtown. We analyze ASM-livelihood dynamics through the lenses of water, land, economic tradeoffs, immigration, social and power dynamics, and history and previous conflict – all themes identified in the literature on conflicts around large-scale mining (LSM). In our study site, ASM activity did not physically displace communities or other livelihoods, as often occurs with large-scale mines. We found a baseline acceptance for ASM activity, based on perceptions of economic improvement and historic incorporation of informal mining within the local livelihood mix. However, this acceptance was fragile, threatened by the rapid pace of ASM growth, immigration and social change, and uncertainty about water contamination that could undermine other livelihoods. Weighing the contrasting realities and pressures in our study site, we conclude that ASM could coexist with other livelihoods, though it is far from certain whether this will play out in practice over the long run.

A Review of the Scope of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Worldwide, Poverty, and the Associated Health Impacts.

Some of the poorest people in the world's poorest countries eke out a living in artisanal and small‐scale mining (ASM). Equipped with primitive tools like picks, shovels, buckets, and gold pans, they work mining valuable resources, like gold, diamonds, tin, lithium, rare earth elements, tantalum, and cobalt, and any other usable commodity, for example, sand, coal, or mica. The mining and refining processes are labor intensive and associated with a variety of health problems due to accidents, overheating, overexertion, dust inhalation, exposure to toxic chemicals and gases, violence, and illicit and prescription drug and alcohol addiction. Evident disadvantages with ASM are counterbalanced by the immense economic benefits. For many, the true scope and scale of ASM activities are unappreciated, along with the unknown health and societal impacts. Here, we set out to elucidate the scope of ASM beyond the recovery of familiar commodities, such as gold and diamonds. We adopt a holistic perspective toward health impacts of ASM, which includes unique occupational, environmental, and human/social drivers. A particular focus is poverty as a health risk with artisanal miners. They are commonly poverty‐stricken people in poor countries, ensnared by a variety of poverty traps, which take a toll on the health and well‐being of individuals and communities. ASM sometimes provides an opportunity to diversify income in the face of a decline in subsistence agriculture. However, ASM often trades one kind of generational poverty for another, coming along with serious health risks and turmoil associated with work in an informal “cash‐rich” business.

Investigating the Potential of Radar Interferometry for Monitoring Rural Artisanal Cobalt Mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Greater awareness of the serious human rights abuses associated with the extraction and trade of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has applied increasing pressure for businesses to move towards more responsible and sustainable mineral sourcing. Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities in rural and remote locations may provide heightened opportunities to conceal the alleged human rights violations associated with mining, such as: hazardous working conditions, health impacts, child labour, child trafficking, and debt bondage. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of the Intermittent Small Baseline Subset (ISBAS) interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) method, teamed with high temporal frequency Sentinel-1 imagery, for monitoring ASM activity in rural locations of the “Copperbelt”, the DRC. The results show that the ISBAS descriptive variables (mean, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum) were significantly different (p-value = ≤ 0.05) between mining and non-mining areas. Additionally, a significant difference was found for the ISBAS descriptive variables mean, standard deviation, and minimum between the different mine types (industrial, surface, and tunnels). As expected, a high level of subsidence (i.e., negative ISBAS pixel value) was a clear indicator of mine activity. Trial activity thresholds were set for the descriptive variables mean (-2.43 mm/yr) and minimum (-5.36 mm/yr) to explore an ISBAS approach to active mine identification. The study concluded that the ISBAS method has great potential as a monitoring tool for ASM, with the ability to separate mining and non-mining areas based on surface motion values, and further distinguish the different mine types (industrial, surface, and tunnel). Ground data collection and further development of ISBAS analysis needs to be made to fully understand the value of an ISBAS-based ASM monitoring system. In particular, surrounding the impact of seasonality relative to longer-term trends in ASM activity.

Peculiarities of drilling and blasting in underground small-scale mines

Abstract Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) is a prominent activity in the extractive industry: considering only gold, it produces about 20% of the world market supply. Despite this fact, ASM is generally associated with the negative aspects of its environ mental impact, and operational research is generally neglected. This article empha sizes the peculiarity of the drilling and blasting systems of small underground mines in selected South American Countries. Such Countries, while having large mineral deposits and well recognized large-scale mining activities, at the same time still pres ent on their territory ASM activities that are archaic, highly inefficient and dangerous for the safety of its operators. This article documents drilling and blasting activities from gold mining in Ecuador and Chile. First, described are the outdated and often non-rational techniques employed by miners, to provide a general framework of the current methods. Then, shown is what can be improved and how the current methods can be modified. Finally, some field applications and the comparisons of the results ob tained are presented. One case shows how blast pull efficiency can be increased from 82% to 98% by changing non-rational applications of explosive products to rational, scientific-based employment. Another case shows how, by rationalizing blast designs, drilling and blasting costs can be reduced by 9% per month, the advance by blasting increased by 29% and the pull efficiency increased from 70% to 90%. Finally, it is concluded that examples of application show how operational improvements are eas ily applicable in the field, relying only on tools and resources of artisanal mining, but combining solid engineering bases with confidence-gain and respect for the experience of the miners.

For the Environment: An Assessment of Recent Military Intervention in Informal Gold Mining Communities in Ghana

This article reflects critically on the impacts of the recent ban on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing – in Ghana. Government officials claimed that a ban was necessary because the country’s ASM activities, most of which are found in the informal economy, pose a serious threat to local waterbodies and that security forces were needed for its enforcement. It is argued here, however, that projecting the ban and associated military intervention as actions taken specifically to protect the environment has helped the government escape scrutiny over its choice of strategy to combat illegal mining. Perhaps more importantly, it has masked what may be the real reasons behind these moves: 1) to help the government regain control of the purchasing side of an ASM sector that is now heavily populated and influenced by foreigners; and 2) to put it in an improved position to demarcate parcels of land to the multinational mineral exploration and mining companies that supply it with significant quantities of revenue in the form of taxes, royalties and permit fees.

Women in artisanal mining: Reflections on the impacts of a ban on operations in Ghana

As is the case in most corners of sub-Saharan Africa, in Ghana, the number of women pursing work in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech mineral extraction and processing – is increasing. Their dependency on incomes from the sector, however, has brought mixed results: while providing economic relief, it has also caused problems for many women. This was on display in 2017 and 2018, when the government banned all ASM activities countrywide, which crippled many women and their families financially. This study surveys some of the socioeconomic impacts this ban had on women's livelihoods. Prior to the enactment of the ban, 46% of unskilled women interviewed reportedly earned in the range of US$22.22 weekly, with the others earning over US$44.44 per week. This is far more than the World Bank poverty threshold of US$1.90/day but during the ban, many of these women were forced to undertake menial jobs, and despite the ban on ASM having been lifted, face uncertain futures due to a lack of finance.

Impact of mining on the floristic association of gold mined sites in Southwest Nigeria

BackgroundOccurrences in land use, human activities and climate change have both direct and indirect influences on the environment. Of interest for this study is mining; a common activity in developing countries such as Nigeria which is endowed with over 34 solid minerals. The gold mining sites in the Southwest region of the country is predominantly by Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM). Though the benefits are known, its induced consequences are enormous. To understand its extent of floristic diversity, identification of functional plants and plant species surviving on the mined sites (despite its characterized mining and alteration level); this study compared the floristic composition of an abandoned mining site (Site 1), an active mining site (Site 2) and an undisturbed vegetation sites (Control) of similar vegetation zone.ResultsA total of 54, 28 and 37 species belonging to 31, 20 and 23 families were found on Site 1, Site 2 and the control site, respectively. It shows that the floristic composition of all the sites has been altered due to its past intense agricultural colonization and human activities, but severe on Site 1 and 2 due to mining. Lots of the identified species are functional species and stand as ecological indicators. Species such as Acanthus montanus and Icacina trichantha found on the Control sites are native and significance but species such as Capsicum frutescens and Crassocephalum crepidioides on Site 2 are due to human inference while most species on Site 1 shows both original and altered floristic composition (e.g. Adenia venenata and Grewia flavescens).ConclusionsApart from the on-going farming activities, ASM activities such as pollution, deforestation and exposure of the forest soils to direct sunlight has greatly stressed and disturbed the floristic composition, species richness, life form patterns, of the mined sites as well as introduction of non-native plant species. It is therefore necessary to develop effective approaches and policies to curb these illegal ASM activities, empower the community (especially youths), stabilize the economy and establish sustainable development strategies with adequate reclamation measures.

Artisanal and small-scale mining and the Sustainable Development Goals: Opportunities and new directions for sub-Saharan Africa

This paper explains how formalizing and supporting artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labor-intensive mineral processing and extraction – would help governments in sub-Saharan Africa meet several targets linked the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While most of the men and women found working in ASM in the region choose to operate without the requisite permits and are rarely monitored or regulated, the local impacts of their activities are significant. After examining the long historical trajectory that has relegated most ASM activities in sub-Saharan Africa to the informal economy, three of the sector’s more obvious economic impacts are reviewed: its contribution to regional mineral outputs; how operations create employment opportunities for millions of people directly, and millions more in the downstream and upstream industries they spawn; and the links the sector has with subsistence agriculture, dynamics which have important implications for food security and gender equality. These contributions alone are sufficient justification for featuring ASM more prominently in the plans, policies and programs being launched in sub-Saharan Africa to help host governments meet their commitments to the SDGs.

Formalizing artisanal gold mining under the Minamata convention: Previewing the challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa

This article contributes to a growing body of literature which explores how the Minamata Convention on Mercury is influencing the development of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech mineral extraction and processing – in sub-Saharan Africa. Conceived to raise awareness of the environmental impact of mercury and to minimize its use in industry, the Convention focuses heavily on ASM, the largest source of anthropogenic emissions of mercury worldwide. Article 7 of the Convention requires ratifying countries with ‘more than significant quantities of ASGM [artisanal and small-scale gold mining]’ to draft comprehensive National Action Plans (NAPs) that outline training programs for the handling of mercury and strategies for reducing emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mines. The focus here, however, is on one point in particular, the importance of which, thus far, has been largely-overlooked: the need for ratifying countries to include in their NAPs ‘Steps to facilitate the formalization or regulation of the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector’. In sub-Saharan Africa, where most ASM activities are found in the informal ‘space’, this promises to be a contentious issue moving forward. The article explains why this is the case, drawing heavily on findings from research being conducted in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Mali, three of the region’s most dynamic ASM economies.

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in sub-Saharan Africa: Re-conceptualizing formalization and ‘illegal’ activity

This article contributes to the debate on the formalization of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing – in developing countries. A unique sector populated by an eclectic group of individuals, ASM has expanded rapidly in all corners of the world in recent years. Most of its activities, however, are informal, scattered across lands which are not officially titled. But growing recognition of the sector's economic importance, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, has forced donors, and to some extent, policymakers, to ‘rethink’ development strategies for ASM. As part of broader moves to improve the regulation of, and occasionally intensify the delivery of assistance to, the sector, many are now searching frantically for fresh ideas on how to bring operations into the legal domain, where, it is believed, they can be regulated, monitored and supported more effectively. A challenging exercise, this entails first determining, with some degree of precision, why people choose to operate informally in this sector. Drawing on analysis from the literature and findings from research conducted in Ghana and Niger, it is argued that the legalist school (on informality) in part explains how governments across sub-Saharan Africa are ‘creating’ bureaucracies which are stifling the formalization of ASM activities in the region. A more nuanced development strategy grounded in local realities is needed if formalization is to have a transformative effect on the livelihoods of those engaged in ASM in the region and elsewhere in the developing world.

A ‘cartography of concern’: Place-making practices and gender in the artisanal mining sector in Africa

Sites of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in sub-Saharan Africa are often places of contestation and dispossession, particularly because mining laws and policies have generally been crafted to foster large-scale mining. This paper builds on research mapping the multiple ways in which ASM is associated with various wrongs – criminality, illegality, immorality, destructiveness - to consider how various, complex gendered relations and place-making practices within mine sites are occluded as a result. We consider these erasures in the context of ASM formalization efforts linked to particular state visions. We note that while negative perceptions of ASM persist, governments, donors and mining companies are increasingly engaging in different forms of negotiation with ASM representatives, particularly through establishing legal ‘ASM zones’ and encouraging or mandating artisanal miners to form associations or cooperatives: processes of formalization. With reference to African case studies, we outline potential issues and challenges in efforts to formalize ASM, while offering insights into how the politics of place-making inform these initiatives. Focusing in particular on the gendering of both the dominant place-making of ASM by policy-makers and regulators and the actual emplaced practices of ASM activities in specific mining sites we highlight the multiple, at times competing and other times overlapping, visions of space at work in this widespread economic activity.

When policy is not enough: prospects and challenges of artisanal and small-scale mining in South Africa

As in most countries, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities are recognised in South Africa. ASM activities first became part of the socioeconomic development agenda of the country in 1994 after the change in government. ASM was identified as an important platform where disadvantaged South Africans can participate and benefit from the mining industry. This is because of the potential benefits that government has sought to support the sub-sector. In the past two decades, several programmes and initiatives have been introduced to promote and advance the sub-sector. In the majority of cases, these interventions failed to facilitate the development of the sub-sector and, to a large extent, its contribution to local economies. This is attributed to a myriad of challenges still facing the sub-sector today. The objective of this paper is to map all the critical developments that took place in the sub-sector in an attempt to develop and deploy appropriate assistance to the sub-sector. The paper assesses their impact, if any, on the growth of ASM in South Africa. With the country into its second decade of democracy, it has become crucial to reflect on past experiences and use them as learning curve to create a new thriving economy. Keywords: artisanal and small scale mining (ASM), timeline, poverty alleviation, sustainable development, South African mining policy