Artisanal gold miners pan for gold at the Bantakokouta gold mine, south-east Senegal.
John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images
Given the dangers of mercury toxicity and the high exposure of miners and their communities, solutions are needed to reduce their exposure.
Poverty is prevalent in most gold mining communities in Ghana.
Wikimedia Commons
The activities of artisanal small-scale miners can be turned into an economic good.
GettyImages.
Destructive mining in Congo’s protected areas is rampant because it generates money for citizens, officials and armed groups.
Illegal gold mining is spreading rapidly in Ghana.
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Grassroots miners are disadvantaged by current regulations.
A group of Galamseyer, illegal gold miners, work in Kibi area, southern Ghana.
Cristina Aldehuela/AFP via Getty Images
A community centred approach is key to making headway in the battle against illegal mining
The Osun River has become turbid and unsafe for consumption - threatening its cultural and biodiversity significance. Photo by: Stefan Heunis/AFP via Getty Images.
from www,gettyimages.com
The ability of the Osun River to support biodiversity is being threatened by pollution and can only be rescued if the contamination ends.
Bisimwa Hardy, 22, emerges from a shaft at Luhihi in South Kivu with a bag full of stones destined to the crusher to separate the stone from the gold.
Photo by Guerchom Ndebo/AFP via Getty Images
As a dynamic and mechanising form of production, artisanal mining is in more direct competition with large corporations than is commonly perceived.
A group of African woman walking on their way home in Zimbabwe. The informal sector has potential to harness small sustainability benefits.
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Informal economic activities in Norton, Zimbabwe play a part in environmental sustainability and contribute to the town’s financial sustainability.
Gold is key to the economic survival of millions of Ghanaians.
Knut-Erik Helle/Flickr
The devolution of small-scale mining decisions to municipal and district assemblies working in collaboration with traditional authorities is key to saving the industry in Ghana.
Going underground in Camarines Norte province, Philippines.
EPA
You would think that anyone in the gold industry would be getting rich right now, but informal miners in many countries are missing out.
An artisanal mine.
Fairphone/Flickr
Artisanal and industrial mining have a different impact on local conflict in eastern Congo.
A prospector prepares to pan for gold in South Kivu in 2014. Many informal miners faced tough choices as US regulations turned life upside down.
Reuters/Kenny Katombe
The US wants to repeal controls imposed seven years ago on the trade of some Congolese minerals. The president’s reasons might be all wrong. But the law was badly put together in the first place.