Artisanal Mining Research Articles

Biomonitoring of exposure to metals and metalloids using toenail and fingernail sampling in individuals from artisanal gold mining areas in Mali

Artisanal gold mining can release metallic elements in the environment that can result in occupational and environmental exposures. This pilot study aimed to assess exposure to metals and metalloids from fingernail and toenail samples in artisanal gold mine workers, inhabitants of a mining and non-mining village in Mali. As it can be particularly challenging to collect and transport biological samples from remote areas, nail sample collection was tested as a potential choice for multielement biomonitoring. A convenience sampling of 315 individuals was performed equally distributed in each location group (105 per location) and stratified by populational group (male adults, female adults, and people <18 years). Toenail and fingernail samples were collected from each participant and twenty-one elements (aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), barium (Ba), beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), gallium (Ga), iron (Fe), lithium (Li), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), silver (Ag), strontium (Sr), thallium (Th), uranium (u), vanadium (v) and zinc (Zn)) were quantified. Concentrations of 12 elements in fingernails and/or toenails were significantly higher in the mine worker group, in particular As, Co and Cu in both toenails and fingernails. In the mine worker group specifically, As concentrations in both fingernails and toenails were higher in males. Most metals also had a strong positive correlation overall. Both fingernails and toenails appear as interesting biomonitoring matrices for multielement exposure assessment with an impact of different variables, such as mining exposure and sex, on internal levels. The study also highlighted the importance of further human exposure assessment related to artisanal gold mining in Mali, including the identification of other environmental sources of exposure.

Green tech soil analysis: a comparison of potentially toxic element contents among urban, agricultural, and gold mining areas in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon.

Artisanal gold mining can lead to soil contamination with potentially toxic elements (PTEs), necessitating soil quality monitoring due to environmental and human health risks. However, determining PTE levels through acid digestion is time-consuming, generates chemical waste, and requires significant resources. As an alternative, portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) offers a faster, more cost-effective, and sustainable analysis. This study compared total As, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, Ti, V, and Zn obtained from pXRF with their pseudo-total contents obtained through acid digestion (USEPA method 3051A) in areas influenced by artisanal gold mining in the Eastern Amazon, Brazil. pXRF data and machine learning algorithms were used to predict extractable Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn. Linear regression models were fitted to compare the two methods, and random forest and support vector machine techniques were used to predict extractable contents. The best regression model fits for the pseudo-total PTE contents were those for Cu, Fe, Mn and Pb in agricultural areas (R2 > 0.80); Fe and Mn in gold mining residue (R2 > 0.70); and Ba, Cu and Mn in urban areas (R2 > 0.80). The best models for predicting the extractable PTE contents were those for Cu (R2 = 0.72; RMSE = 2.58mgdm-3) and Zn (R2 = 0.71; RMSE = 1.44mgdm-3) in agricultural areas and for Zn (R2 = 0.72; RMSE = 0.43mgdm-3) in gold mining residue. The results demonstrated that pXRF can characterize and predict PTE contents in mining-impacted areas, offering a sustainable approach to soil quality analysis.

“If you don't go to site, they call you a lazy person”: Drivers of women's participation in artisanal and small-scale mining: The case of rural northern Ghana

In recent years, women's involvement in informal artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities in sub-Saharan African countries have surged. While many studies have attributed the increased involvement of women in ASM to the rising economic hardship in rural landscapes, a deeper interrogation of the socioeconomic and sociocultural drivers of the surge in women in ASM remains underexplored. This study inquires as follows: has women's increased participation in ASM anything to do with socioeconomic factors, or sociocultural factors, or to both? The study draws on a qualitive case study research design involving in-depth interviews with 67 women miners in northern Ghana, one of the emerging ASM hotspots. It answers the question by analyzing (1) the socioeconomic drivers of women's participation in ASM, and (2) the sociocultural drivers of women's participation in ASM. This helps in identifying the contextual constraints to women's participation in ASM in Ghana and other regions in sub-Saharan Africa. Findings show that the socioeconomic drivers of women's participation in ASM are unemployment, increasing household needs, climate change effect on agriculture, and the quest to acquire physical assets. A key contribution of the study relates to how the local communities' sub-culture, social recognition for women who made it in ASM and marital challenges drive women's participation in ASM. Participation in ASM inures to women's empowerment in the long-run provided the sociocultural, financial, and technological barriers facing women miners are addressed. The findings underscore the urgent need for a robust policy on gender mainstreaming and the creation of a gender-sensitive mining environment alongside formalization of ASM activities in developing countries.

Battling on multiple frontiers: an African feminist examination of women’s struggles in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)

Battling on multiple frontiers: an African feminist examination of women’s struggles in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)

Geochemical Modeling and Quality Assessment of the Surface Waters from the Mouhoun River System, Burkina Faso: Implications of Water–Rock Interactions and Anthropogenic Activities

Major ion and heavy metal geochemistry was used to investigate the factors that control the Mouhoun River water quality in western Burkina Faso. Major cation concentrations was in the following decreasing order: Ca2+&gt; Na+&gt; K+&gt; Mg2+, reflecting silicate weathering. However, relatively high HCO3- and SO42- concentrations could be related to dissolution of calcite and sulfide minerals, respectively. The average heavy metal concentrations in the riverine system were in the following order: FeT&gt;Ag&gt;Mn&gt;Zn&gt;Pb&gt;Cu&gt;Ni&gt;AsT&gt;Cr&gt;Hg&gt;Co&gt;Cd with FeT and Ag exceeding the World Health Organization permissible limits. Concentrations of all heavy metals, except Cr, were higher in the Mouhoun system compared to the average world river concentrations. Adsorption and speciation models showed that Zn, Ag, Cd, Co, Cr and Ni are likely to remain in their free ionic forms, and thus posing serious threats to aquatic life and human health. Ag-Hg-Ni-Cd association around Poura and Tenado on the principal component plot suggested that the widespread artisanal gold mining in these areas may have contributed to these metals’ loading. In contrast, NH4+, Pb, Cu, Cr, AsT and Zn were clustered around a densely populated and industrialized Kou watershed, pointing to agricultural and industrial sources of these pollutants. Furthermore, the Kou River had the highest metal index followed by Tenado, Samendeni, Poura and Boromo. Hence, the chemistry of the Mouhoun River and its tributary appears to be mainly controlled by population density and various anthropogenic activities taking place in their drainage basins. The findings could provide avenues for sound and sustainable water resource management in a water scarce semi-arid environment.

Assessment of land cover degradation due to mining activities using remote sensing and digital photogrammetry

Appropriate environment management requires an understanding of how mining activity alters environmental characteristics and how those changes affect an area. Therefore, to reduce the adverse effects of mining activity on the land, it becomes crucial to have relevant information about responses to environmental degradation. This study aims to assess the impact of semi-mechanised and artisanal mining activities on the land cover using remote sensing data and photogrammetric analysis, in the Mbale locality, Northern Cameroon. For this purpose, the maximum likelihood classification algorithm of the supervised classification method combined with field surveys was used to map environmental changes, based on Sentinel-2 images of 2019, 2021, and 2023. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI), Brithness index (BI), and Soil crust index (SCI), were calculated to assess changes in vegetation, bare soil, water body, and exploited area. The orthophoto obtained from photogrammetric processing was performed to outline river network change through visual interpretation techniques and to calculate the volume of pits created by mining. The result of classified images indicated that vegetation cover decreased by 11.74% over the studied years. However, bare soil and exploited areas increased by 9.2% and 5.4% respectively. The calculated spectral indices show that between 2019 and 2023 the locality of Mbale considerably lost its vegetation cover, in favor of bare soil. The color of the soil and the granulometric size of the topsoil have also changed. The photogrammetry analysis highlighted the deviation of the main river and estimated the volume of pits created by mining activity to 22188.7 m3. The mining activities caused a loss of the vegetation cover, generated big pits, and multiple deviations of the Lom River from its natural course, which have a substantial negative influence on the ecosystem. Such data can be used for long-term environmental management, reclamation and rehabilitation monitoring, and mining area restoration.

Impact of climatic seasons on the dynamics of carbon, nitrogen and mercury in soils of Brazilian biomes affected by gold mining

Land use change, especially mining activities, contributes to anthropic CO2 emissions, leading to decreased carbon (C) storage and loss of biodiversity. Artisanal gold mining associated with the use of mercury (Hg) for amalgamation may change soil organic matter (SOM) contents, and the release of Hg into the environment generates serious environmental problems. Changes in soil biogeochemistry due to C loss and seasonal climate fluctuations affect Hg dynamics and can either increase or decrease its availability. Therefore, our objective was to evaluate the impact of mining on SOM and Hg geochemistry in four Brazilian biomes. We evaluated the dynamics of C and Hg in the dry and rainy seasons of mining and pasture areas by combining spectroscopic, thermogravimetric, and chemical extraction. The critical role of SOM in Hg retention and the influence of climatic seasons on C and nitrogen (N) stocks were highlighted, along with the availability of Hg in solution. Key findings indicated a 50 % reduction in soil C stocks in mined areas, exacerbated during dry seasons, which also saw up to a 70 % increase in bioavailable Hg. SOM played a critical role in Hg retention, with Hg availability closely linked to soil C stability. These results highlight the environmental degradation linked to mining and suggest strategies to mitigate these impacts by increasing SOM and immobilizing Hg. Amalgamation of gold directly into ore, as in the Amazon, has generated great soil Hg stocks, while Hg availability appeared to be governed by soil C stability. This information can serve as a basis for choosing strategies to mitigate environmental degradation caused by changes in land use in mining activities to promote increase in SOM and to immobilize Hg contents.

The use of electrical resistivity tomography method to resolve land boundary disputes in mining areas

This paper presents the use of electrical resistivity tomography data to solve lingering land disputes arising from boundary encroachment by artisanal and small-scale miners in Jos, Plateau State. Seven electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) profiles were employed using the Wenner Alpha array with an electrode spacing of 1m. The 2Delectrical resistivity tomography image showed areas with low resistivity ranging from 1.80 to 250 Ωm that are interpreted as void or saturated mine drift, in contrast, areas with greater than 250 Ωm areas interpreted as dry mine drifts dug by artisanal miners in search of tin. The results revealed 38 mining drifts at depths ranging from 0 to 30m. Evidence from the 2D ERT method proves that underground mine cavities were created by mining drifts at the fringes of landed property. Field evidence of land subsidence appearing as sinkholes on the encroached property is also an indication of underground mining activities within the property. Mining activities within built-up areas damage soil conditions and pose a threat to buildings and infrastructure. The electrical resistivity tomography method employed in this study provides substantial technical proof for resolving land encroachment disputes in mining areas within Jos and its environs.

Application of Haines and Terbrugge chart for suitable slope angles – A case study of Artisanal and small-scale mining

Application of Haines and Terbrugge chart for suitable slope angles – A case study of Artisanal and small-scale mining

Impact of different illegal Artisanal Small-Scale Mining techniques on soil properties in a major mining landscape in Ghana

The widespread prevalence of illegal Artisanal Small-Scale Mining has raised significant concerns about its environmental and health impacts. This study investigates the effects of two mining methods (alluvial and chamfi) on soil physical, chemical, and microbial properties four years after mining in three municipalities of the Western Region of Ghana. The study identified four species of Aspergillus fungi (niger, flavus, ochraceous and fumigatus) and Trichoderma species in both mined and control soils. The quantity of A. fumigatus was significantly higher in control plots compared to mined plots. In alluvial sites, bacterial numbers were significantly higher in control plots than in mined plots, while in chamfi sites, bacterial numbers did not differ significantly between mined and control plots. Soil texture in both mined sites was predominantly sandy loam and loamy sand, with a generally high silt to clay ratio. Mined plots at both sites were significant and more acidic (p < 0.05) than the control plots. Additionally, cation exchange capacity (CEC), electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), phosphorus (P), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+) levels were significantly higher in control plots compared to mined plots. The control plots also exhibited higher base saturation and lower exchangeable acidity than mined plots. Bacteria count at Chamfi sites was generally higher at mined areas than the control sites, with the reverse being the case for Alluvial sites. Soil chemical parameters were higher at control areas than at mined sites, irrespective of the mining approach used. However, there was no clear pattern of differences in soil chemical properties at Chamfi and Alluvial mined sites. This study provides insights and additional perspectives for improving decision-making and guiding the potential restoration of these areas.

Community engagement in mobile and hard-to-reach populations: a community-based intervention for malaria elimination in a tri-national region of the Guiana Shield.

Several countries of the Guiana Shield are aiming at the control and elimination of malaria in areas where Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) activities predominate, raising questions about how to strengthen community engagement to improve the effectiveness of health programs. The Curema project focuses its intervention on the mobile and hard-to-reach ASGM population, complementing the efforts of national programs in the Guiana Shield. The Curema intervention combines targeted drug administration for suspected Plasmodium vivax asymptomatic carriers, the Malakit distribution, and health education activities. The primary goals of this manuscript are to outline a pathway to foster community participation in the Curema project aimed at eliminating malaria. Thus, it presents a vision of the challenges that the AGSM community poses in terms of community participation for an asymptomatic problem; and highlights the community-based model and the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) components as foundations for participation. In addition, it also presents culturally sensitive IEC strategies designed through iterative and collaborative consultative processes and other bottom-up outreach activities. The community engagement approach facilitates adaptability and responsiveness in a complex, evolving context increasing the effectiveness of interventions.

CUREMA project: a further step towards malaria elimination among hard-to-reach and mobile populations

BackgroundIn most countries engaged on the last mile towards malaria elimination, residual transmission mainly persists among vulnerable populations represented by isolated and mobile (often cross-border) communities. These populations are sometimes involved in informal or even illegal activities. In regions with Plasmodium vivax transmission, the specific biology of this parasite poses additional difficulties related to the need for a radical treatment against hypnozoites to prevent relapses. Among hard-to-reach communities, case management, a pillar of elimination strategy, is deficient: acute malaria attacks often occur in remote areas, where there is limited access to care, and drugs acquired outside formal healthcare are often inadequately used for treatment, which typically does not include radical treatment against P. vivax. For these reasons, P. vivax circulation among these communities represents one of the main challenges for malaria elimination in many non-African countries. The objective of this article is to describe the protocol of the CUREMA study, which aims to meet the challenge of targeting malaria in hard-to-reach populations with a focus on P. vivax.ResultsCUREMA is a multi-centre, international public health intervention research project. The study population is represented by persons involved in artisanal and small-scale gold mining who are active and mobile in the Guiana Shield, deep inside the Amazon Forest. The CUREMA project includes a complex intervention composed of a package of actions: (1) health education activities; (2) targeted administration of treatment against P. vivax after screening against G6PD deficiency to asymptomatic persons considered at risk of silently carrying the parasite; (3) distribution of a self-testing and self-treatment kit (malakit) associated with user training for self-management of malaria symptoms occurring while in extreme isolation. These actions are offered by community health workers at settlements and neighbourhoods (often cross-border) that represent transit and logistic bases of gold miners. The study relies on hybrid design, aiming to evaluate both the effectiveness of the intervention on malaria transmission with a pre/post quasi-experimental design, and its implementation with a mixed methods approach.ConclusionsThe purpose of this study is to experiment an intervention that addresses both Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria elimination in a mobile and isolated population and to produce results that can be transferred to many contexts facing the same challenges around the world.

No evidence of increased forest loss from a mining rush in Madagascar’s eastern rainforests

Artisanal and small-scale mining is an important livelihood activity in many biodiversity hotspots. There is substantial international concern about the negative impact of artisanal and small-scale mining on biodiversity, yet in most places this remains poorly understood. We explore the impacts of a high-profile mining rush: the 2016 sapphire rush at Bemainty, Eastern Madagascar, where tens of thousands of miners descended on a protected forest. Media coverage claimed the rush caused hundreds of hectares of deforestation and threatened lemur populations. Using the synthetic control method to estimate counterfactual outcomes, we find no evidence that mining increased forest loss or degradation. Supported by informal interviews and a lemur survey, we argue that mining at Bemainty had limited impacts on the surrounding forest, relative to other threats. Our results highlight the heterogeneity of environmental impacts from artisanal and small-scale mining and emphasize the need for more robust evaluations to inform context-specific policies.

Deforestation triggered by artisanal mining in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Deforestation triggered by artisanal mining in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

The status of artisanal coal mining in Afghanistan: Using remote sensing to assess remaining artisanally mineable Jurassic coal resources

Coal mining is critical to the functioning of the current Afghan economy providing jobs, tax revenue, and foreign exchange. Taxes on coal may constitute the Taliban Government’s single largest source of operating income. Prior to the start of mining, Afghanistan had between 215 M and 430 M tonnes of hypothetical category Jurassic coal resources at depths accessible to artisanal miners. Since 1940, between 51 M and 89 M tonnes of coal have been extracted. Technologically primitive mining practices result in suboptimal coal extraction from disorganized room and pillar mines leaving significant amounts of coal unmineable. Frequent tunnel collapse, gas and coal dust explosions, and uncontrolled widespread mine fires have destroyed or made inaccessible significant additional volumes of remaining artisanally mineable resources. The haphazard unmapped development of the existing Jurassic coal makes it impossible to redevelop these fields using more efficient mining technologies. If new mines are to be developed, they will have to tap subsurface coals not accessible to artisanal miners. 66 % of the area mapped as Lower to Middle Jurassic rock does not host outcropping coal beds. This area, as well as some of the areas beneath thin veneers of lowest Cretaceous sediment are potential exploration targets. Jurassic coals are very gassy. Developing coalbed methane prospects is a more effective and less environmentally destructive means to access the energy contained in the Jurassic coals.

Risk assessment of arsenic exposure to occupational disease artisanal and small-scale gold mining sites, Bombana Area, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract Anthropogenic activities can lead to heavy metal accumulation in the body, causing heavy metal poisoning and occupational diseases. This study investigated the impact of Arsenic exposure on artisanal gold miners in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. The study focused on miners at two Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining sites in Bombana area. The study sample comprises 63 individuals, with 54 individuals representing miners from the Rarowatu and North Rarowatu regions constituting the exposed group and 9 individuals representing non-miners from the Rumbia region forming the control group. Medical examinations and questionnaires were used to identify symptoms of occupational diseases. The As concentrations in human hair samples revealed that miners with over ten years of experience had significantly higher As concentrations (2.67 μg/g) than those exposed to less than ten years of durations (1.26 μg/g). The As concentration in the exposed group (1.61 μg/g) exceeds the World Health Organization guidelines (1 μg/g) and is higher than that of the control group (0.87 μg/g), although not statistically significant (p&lt;0.05). Additionally, there were no significant differences in As concentrations between sick and healthy workers with various symptoms (neurological, respiratory, musculoskeletal, degenerative, and others) (p-values: 0.08, 0.32, 0.69, 0.36, and 0.67, respectively). Long-term Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining miners had higher As exposure, but this study found no clear association between As concentrations and specific occupational diseases.

Evaluating ecological risks and metal bioavailability in post-dredging sediments of a wetland affected by artisanal gold mining

The evaluation of metal contamination, ecological risk, bioavailability, and the environmental dredging depth in sediments of two Colombian riverine systems impacted by artisanal gold mining and agricultural activities, was conducted following dredging processes. Results indicated significant contamination by Cd and Pb before dredging, based on the contamination factor (CF) and the geoaccumulation index (Igeo). Additionally, Cu and Hg were found to cause adverse biological effects according to sediment quality guidelines. Post-dredging, surface sediments exhibited a moderate ecological risk index (RI, 150–300), primarily due to increased contamination by Hg, Pb, and Cd. To mitigate this ecological risk (RI < 150), the environmental dredging depth needed to exceed 20 cm for all metals. On average, the bioavailable fraction increased 2.3 times within two months after dredging. However, the low environmental risk (%F1 = 1–10) calculated using risk assessment codes (RAC) indicates a potential risk due to metals entering the water column and bioaccumulating in organisms. These findings provide insights into the dynamics of metals and the impact of dredging activities on sediments in the Colombian Caribbean coast affected by various anthropogenic activities. The research underscores the importance of integrating sustainable practices in mining and agriculture to protect the ecological integrity of these riverine systems.

Decarbonization and social justice: The case for artisanal and small-scale mining

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is the primary livelihood for an estimated 40 million people in 80 countries and supports an additional 130 to 270 million people in mining communities. With the emergence of critical minerals necessary for decarbonization efforts, ASM has emerged as a crucial form of production to help meet global demand. Despite its importance, ASM miners and communities are routinely ostracized and pathologized. Rather than the cause of social deprivation, this article argues that ASM reflects broader social, political, and historical inequalities. We contend with four main arguments against ASM before elaborating on three reasons that ASM ought to be responsibly supported. These reasons are ASM's ability to enable economic redistribution, meet increased global demand for critical minerals, and advance social justice. Inclusive regulation and governance rather than exclusion and plausible deniability constitute the pathway to addressing attendant social and environmental challenges associated with ASM practices. This paper identifies pathways to inclusive regulation of ASM and proposes avenues for future research and interventions. Ultimately, ASM must be understood as a central social justice issue of our time, especially in the context of global decarbonization efforts.

Sexual behaviors and factors associated with consistent condom use among young male artisanal miners in Kassanda District, Uganda.

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a significant source of income for tens of millions of people worldwide. Consistent condom use is pivotal in the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other STIs. This study assessed sexual behaviors and factors associated with consistent condom use among young male artisanal miners in Kassanda District, Uganda. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 304 miners aged 15-24 years. Data -analysis included frequency distributions, chi-squared tests, and binary logistic regression. 89% had sexual intercourse in the past year, 55% had multiple partners, 11% engaged in transactional sex, and only 42% used condoms consistently. Married/cohabiting young men (OR=0.41; CI=0.19-0.87), those with a neutral attitude towards condom use (OR=0.30; CI=0.11-0.85), and those with only their mothers as parents (OR=0.37; CI=0.19-0.73) were less likely to use condoms consistently. The study highlights the need for targeted interventions promoting condom use among married young men and those raised by single mothers to reduce the risk of STI transmission.

Characterization and Reprocessing of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mine Tailings

Characterization and Reprocessing of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mine Tailings