Small-scale Gold Mining Industry Research Articles

“Gold Is a Spirit”: Diverse Ontologies and a More-than-Human Political Ecology of Extraction in Ghana’s Small-Scale Gold Mining Industry

This article examines how indigenous ontologies of gold, land, and rivers shape extractive practices, based on ethnographic field work in Ghana. I draw from political ecology to account for how invisible properties of the subsoil become entangled with social realities. In Ghana, understandings of the subsoil as more-than-material worlds inform rituals, taboos, and other protocols. Through such protocols, chiefs, spiritualists, and others emerge to govern subterranean access. This research shows that subterranean sovereignty extends beyond the state to include invisible forces of extractive landscapes, presenting ontological challenges to neoliberal land acquisition and gold privatization processes. The study also shows that mineral matters have resisting and intentional capacities that are constituted through resource making. Such resisting capacities contradict dominant views of resources, generating new understandings of resources as things that do not always become. The study suggests the need to attend to complicated forces of extraction and mining regulations. Such an approach is not merely epistemological intervention for addressing the subsoil’s invisible properties but provides important insights to reimagine contemporary extractive practices as ontological struggles over the subsoil wherein indigenous persons produce and challenge claims to land through more-than-material relationships with the environment.

Gendered mining landscapes and health implications in Ghana's artisanal and small-scale gold mining industry

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has expanded rapidly in recent decades, with scholars suggesting increasing feminization of the industry. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Ghana, we examine gendered dimensions of mining, from state officials' claims that mining is “men's work,” to on-site gendered divisions of labor. We then show how gendered extractive practices combine with the material environment (pits, dust, tunnels, etc.) to expose men and women to different health issues. For instance, pit collapse and related injuries and deaths are predominant among men working in underground spaces. By contrast, women 'shankers' are most vulnerable to dust inhalation and related respiratory diseases. We draw from feminist geography to demonstrate that ASGM-related health conditions are unevenly experienced and shaped by gendered divisions of labor and mining materialities.

Planning for the effective and sustainable management of Ghana’s artisanal small-scale gold mining industry

Over the years, artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) activities have been associated with unacceptable mining practices, which pose several health and environmental risks to communities and nations at large. Ghana is currently confronted with pollution of its main water bodies, which has reduced the supply of good quality water to the populace. To address these problems, several attempts - policy formulation, formalisation and introduction of technical assistance - have been undertaken by the government of Ghana and other international bodies such as United Nations Industrial Development Organisation-UNIDO. Despite these attempts, majority of artisanal small-scale miners are not registered and even some registered miners together with unregistered miners indulge in unacceptable mining practices. Premised on these, the study sought to undertake a thorough review of the challenges associated with the management of ASM in Ghana and provide a framework for the effective management of the sector. Consequently, a three-pronged approach (problem analysis, planning and implementation and enforcement) with a cross-cutting focus on monitoring and evaluation is recommended.

The politics of artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASM) in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area of Ghana

ABSTRACT This paper explores the power relations and institutional arrangements that shape Ghana's artisanal small-scale gold mining industry. Using the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area in the Eastern region as a case, the paper relies on in-depth interviews of key informants including officials of relevant local government institutions, members of the traditional authority and selected small-scale miners, to gather evidence of socio-political relationships and power dynamics. The study also adopted focus group discussions; transect walks and field observations to explore the perceived breaches by small-scale mine operators and how these are influenced by power relationships at national and local levels. The study finds complex power relationships that make artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) unsustainable. Innovative and participatory interventions have been proposed to ensure the effective enforcement of existing mining and environmental protection policies and laws.

Penyakit Parkinson Akibat Merkuri pada Pekerja Penambangan Emas Skala Kecil

Introduction: Parkinson's disease is one of the fastest-growing diseases in terms of prevalence, disability, and mortality. Exposure to environmental toxic substances, such as mercury (Hg) can increase the risk of neuronal damage and neurodegenerative diseases. Purpose: The purpose of writing this article is to determine the impact of mercury exposure on the incidence of Parkinson's disease in small-scale gold mining workers. Methods: The author searches for material through the Google Scholars, NCBI, and ScienceDirect search pages by limiting the journals published in 2015-2020. In this review, the authors conducted a study of 33 scientific articles. Results: The small-scale gold mining industry is the largest source of mercury emissions in the world. Mercury gas has a negative impact on the lungs, kidneys, liver, and nervous system. Gold miners have a very high likelihood of being exposed to metallic mercury and suffering occupational mercury intoxication. Discussion: Mercury is known to be a neurotoxin that can cause neuron death and damage to the substantia nigra and other basal ganglia nuclei. Acute mercury exposure can cause tremors, memory loss, respiratory distress, and even death. Gold miners are a group that is exposed to a lot of mercury and suffers from work-induced mercury intoxication. Conclusion: Mercury-induced parkinsonism can be identified because of its predilection for accumulation and palladium and striatum damage such as damage to the substantia nigra pars in Parkinson's disease.

Penyakit Parkinson Akibat Merkuri pada Pekerja Penambangan Emas Skala Kecil

Introduction: Parkinson's disease is one of the fastest-growing diseases in terms of prevalence, disability, and mortality. Exposure to environmental toxic substances, such as mercury (Hg) can increase the risk of neuronal damage and neurodegenerative diseases. Purpose: The purpose of writing this article is to determine the impact of mercury exposure on the incidence of Parkinson's disease in small-scale gold mining workers. Methods: The author searches for material through the Google Scholars, NCBI, and ScienceDirect search pages by limiting the journals published in 2015-2020. In this review, the authors conducted a study of 33 scientific articles. Results: The small-scale gold mining industry is the largest source of mercury emissions in the world. Mercury gas has a negative impact on the lungs, kidneys, liver, and nervous system. Gold miners have a very high likelihood of being exposed to metallic mercury and suffering occupational mercury intoxication. Discussion: Mercury is known to be a neurotoxin that can cause neuron death and damage to the substantia nigra and other basal ganglia nuclei. Acute mercury exposure can cause tremors, memory loss, respiratory distress, and even death. Gold miners are a group that is exposed to a lot of mercury and suffers from work-induced mercury intoxication. Conclusion: Mercury-induced parkinsonism can be identified because of its predilection for accumulation and palladium and striatum damage such as damage to the substantia nigra pars in Parkinson's disease.

Prosperity in a crisis economy: the Nyamongo gold boom, Tanzania, 1970s–1993

ABSTRACT From the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, Tanzania experienced an unprecedented crisis characterized by high inflation, unemployment and the shortage of basic commodities. Interviews with contemporaries and the scanty documentary evidence available show that this crisis did not impede small-scale gold mining industry in Nyamongo, Tarime District. On the contrary, mining in Nyamongo boomed during this period, largely because the price of gold on the international market rose exponentially during this period. In the inflationary environment of Tanzania in the 1970s and 1980s, gold not only acted as a hedge against inflation; it also enabled small miners to have access to foreign currency and basic commodities that were in short supply in the country. But the gold riches of Nyamongo remained largely “local” because the gold economy developed as a clan-based enclave economy with few linkages to the national economy.

Economic features of the artisanal and small-scale gold mining industry in Bombana, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

There is a consensus that the artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector contributes to trapping individuals in a cycle of poverty and financial insecurity with a low standard of living. The purpose of this study was to analyze the economic circumstances of miners in the Bombana ASGM area in Indonesia using a mixed methodology approach that involved collecting, analyzing, and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study. Results show that the average and maximum monthly incomes of 201 miner households were Rp. 4,360,000 and Rp. 9,750,000, respectively. The average income in the ASGM area in Bombana was higher than that at similar sites on Java Island (∼Rp. 2,900,000) and was much higher than the average monthly income of the inhabitants of Bombana (∼Rp. 2,100,000). Because of the higher revenue generated in the ASGM sector, miners and their families depend long-term on the mining work, which makes it difficult to control the mining activity and the associated environmental degradation.

Comparative Study In The Bibiani, Bolgatanga, Dunkwa And Tarkwa Mining Districts Of The Minerals Commission Of Ghana

This paper aims to provide a comparative study on the Ghanaian small-scale gold mining industry in the Bibiani, Bolgatanga, Dunkwa and Tarkwa Districts of the Minerals Commission of Ghana. Variations in production, employment, number of licensed operators/concessions were the main focus of the paper. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to 1) test for the means of equality for the period 2005 to 2008 in order to find the column effect and 2) test for the means of equality between the mining districts (distance) to help find the column effect. It then looks at the structure-conduct-performance to explain the differences in the mining districts. The paper concludes that even though the small-scale mining sector in Ghana is beset with a number of challenges, it should be recognised as a significant generator of rural livelihoods that has the potential to alleviate poverty and be a tool for sustainable development. Assistance based on an integrated approach that considers operational, financial, organisational, social, economic, legal, technical and environmental issues should be offered to enhance small-scale gold mining operations in Ghana.

Occupational and environmental mercury exposure among small-scale gold miners in the Talensi–Nabdam District of Ghana's Upper East region

Mercury use in small-scale gold mining is ubiquitous across Ghana but little is known about the extent to which such activities have contaminated community residents and miners. Here, occupational exposures to elemental mercury (via urine sampling) and dietary exposures to methylmercury (via hair sampling) were assessed among 120 participants recruited from a mining community located in the Talensi–Nabdam District of Ghana's Upper East region during summer 2009. More than one-fifth of the participants had moderately high levels of urinary mercury (> 10 μg/L) and 5% had urine mercury levels that exceeded the WHO guideline value of 50 μg/L. When participants were stratified according to occupation, those active in the mining industry had the highest mercury levels. Specifically, individuals that burned amalgam had urine mercury levels (median: 43.8 μg/L; mean ± SD: 171.1 ± 296.5 μg/L; n = 5) significantly higher than median values measured in mechanical operators (11.6 μg/L, n = 4), concession managers/owners (5.6 μg/L, n = 11), excavators that blast and chisel ore (4.9 μg/L, n = 33), individuals that sift and grind crushed ore (2.2 μg/L, n = 47), support workers (0.5 μg/L, n = 14), and those with no role in the mining sector (2.5 μg/L, n = 6). There was a significant positive Spearman correlation between fish consumption and hair mercury levels (r = 0.30) but not with urine mercury (r = 0.18) though further studies are needed to document which types of fish are consumed as well as portion sizes. Given that 200,000 people in Ghana are involved in the small-scale gold mining industry and that the numbers are expected to grow in Ghana and many other regions of the world, elucidating mercury exposure pathways in such communities is important to help shape policies and behaviors that may minimize health risks.

Abatement of mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining industry: Restructuring the policy and research agendas

This paper critiques contemporary research and policy approaches taken toward the analysis and abatement of mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining sector. Unmonitored releases of mercury from gold amalgamation have caused considerable environmental contamination and human health complications in rural reaches of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. Whilst these problems have caught the attention of the scientific community over the past 15–20 years, the research that has since been undertaken has failed to identify appropriate mitigation measures, and has done little to advance understanding of why contamination persists. Moreover, the strategies used to educate operators about the impacts of acute mercury exposure, and the technologies implemented to prevent further pollution, have been marginally effective at best. The mercury pollution problem will not be resolved until governments and donor agencies commit to carrying out research aimed at improving understanding of the dynamics of small scale gold mining communities. Acquisition of this knowledge is the key to designing and implementing appropriate support and abatement measures.

Mercury-free gold mining technologies: possibilities for adoption in the Guianas

The rudimentary nature of small-scale gold mining activities often generates a legacy of extensive degradation and deplorable social conditions, both during and after activities have ceased. Small-scale mining usually involves the extraction of secondary gold from placer deposits (alluvial, colluvial or elluvial), which can be liberated and treated using gravity methods. In the Guianas, the most popular form of small-scale gold mining is referred to as “land dredging”, a combination of hydraulicking and suction dredging. This method requires application of large volumes of water for both mining and mineral processing; in most cases, there are no containment structures for the waste tailings generated. Mercury, a dangerous pollutant, is the preferred method employed by small-scale miners for gold recovery. Gold extraction using mercury is comprised of the following four stages: (1) amalgamation, (2) separation of amalgamation, (3) removal of excess mercury, and (4) burning of the remaining amalgam to produce a gold sponge. Mercury can be released into the environment at each stage, which makes the promotion of mercury-free alternatives imperative. Technical alternatives for small-scale gold mining, however, must be thoroughly evaluated, pre-tested, modified accordingly and successfully transferred. Moreover, technology must be inexpensive, relatively simple and easy to adapt, while allowing a rapid rate of return. WWF-Guianas is working with the regulatory agencies and other relevant stakeholders of the Guianas to reduce the environmental footprints caused by small-scale mining. The major aspects of this program are to develop the capacity and regulatory mechanisms within the local government, to promote mercury-free technology, and monitor mercury in the environment. This paper reviews the alternative technologies being investigated by the WWF-Guianas for use in the small-scale gold mining industry.

Technology, managerial, and policy initiatives for improving environmental performance in small-scale gold mining industry.

This paper reviews a series of strategies for improving environmental performance in the small-scale gold mining industry. Although conditions vary regionally, few regulations and policies exist specifically for small-scale gold mining activity. Furthermore, because environmental awareness is low in most developing countries, sites typically feature rudimentary technologies and poor management practices. A combination of policy-, managerial- and technology-related initiatives is needed to facilitate environmental improvement in the industry. Following a broad overview of these initiatives, a recommended strategy is put forth for governments keen on improving the environmental conditions of resident small-scale gold mines.