Resources Policy 64 (2019) 101475

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Resources Policy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/resourpol

From diurnal to nocturnal: Surviving in a chaotic artisanal and small-scale T

mining sector
K.J. Bansah
Mining and Nuclear Engineering Department, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, 65401, USA

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)–mostly informal, low-tech, and hazardous form of mining–serves as a
Artisanal mining significant source of livelihood for many populations in many countries. Characterized by widespread en-
Poverty vironmental vandalism, the government of Ghana banned ASM in March 2017 for a period of six months but
Environmental vandalism later extended the ban indefinitely. Subsequently, the government formed a security taskforce to clamp down on
Water pollution
miners who defied the ban. In December 2018, the government lifted the ban to allow only registered artisanal
ASM formalization
gold miners to operate, depriving a significant proportion of unregistered informal miners of their livelihoods.
Unregistered informal mining is still banned. To explore the coping and adaption strategies adopted by the
affected informal miners, a mixed-methods approach, including purposive and snowball sampling techniques
and in-depth interviews, was employed. Amid brutalities, injuries, pay-to-play corruption, and destruction of
mining equipment, many of the affected informal miners navigate a chaotic, ever-changing landscape in search
of income to feed themselves and their dependents. While some of these miners defy government orders and
work during the day–facing brutalities of government security forces–many others operate at night to evade the
security forces. For some, they have to brace dangerous situations on the Gulf of Guinea and unknown and
challenging terrains to engage in ASM in neighboring countries where the miners believe that mining regulations
and enforcement are lax.

1. Introduction
Gold mining is a prominent activity occurring in many countries
around the world. It offers jobs to many people and provides raw ma-
terials for the development and advancement of modern technology. In
addition, it provides revenue to many local and national governments,
and serves as a significant contributor to socioeconomic developments
in the countries where it occurs. In Ghana, gold mining has been
practiced for more than a century and occurs in two main forms–large-
scale mining (LSM) and artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)–both
making significant contributions to national development. Large-scale
mining (LSM) is typically conducted by large multinational firms using
advanced technologies, while ASM is mostly performed by locals who
have few employment alternatives and often use simple tools (e.g.,
shovels) or less sophisticated machinery to excavate gold-bearing ma-
terials. Presently, gold serves as Ghana's top mineral/metal export and
the leading earner of foreign exchange. Data from the country's central
bank (Bank of Ghana) indicate that gold mining accounted for more
than USD 5 billion in revenue in 2017. The large-scale mining is quite
organized and regulated by mandated institutions (such as the Minerals
Commission), while the ASM is somehow poorly organized and
regulated.
The lack of proper organization and regulation of ASM is common in
many other countries, including sub-Saharan African countries, where
the mining activities are mostly informal, low-tech, and labor-intensive
(Hilson et al., 2017; Ledwaba and Mutemeri, 2018). As a result, many
governments and institutions are promoting formalization of the sector
with the goal to help govern the sector properly, minimize its social and
environmental impacts, and to improve the lives of the miners and their
dependents. However, a few researchers have argued that some gov-
ernments use formalization as a means to disempower the miners and to
have a larger control over their activities (Siwale and Siwale, 2017).
Others have also stated that ASM formalization in Madre de Dios in
Peru “failed to offer clear benefits to the ASM actors” (Salo et al., 2016,
p.1065). Additionally, Verbrugge and Besmanos (2016) raised concerns
about ASM formalization efforts in Southern Philippines and proposed a
series of recommendations towards a more inclusive formalization ex-
ercise which considers mineral tenure and labor relations. Despite these
concerns, Zvarivadza and Nhleko (2018) are of the view that ASM has
huge economic potential and could serve as a vehicle for poverty al-
leviation, and propose that governments should institutionalize
awareness campaigns and policy framework aimed to minimize

E-mail address: kjbt3c@umsystem.edu.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.101475
Received 30 May 2019; Received in revised form 3 August 2019; Accepted 16 August 2019
0301-4207/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
K.J. Bansah
associated environmental, health, and safety issues.
It is this same view of significant economic potential of ASM that led
to the formalization of artisanal mining in Ghana in the late 1980s
through the promulgation of the Small-Scale Gold Mining Law of 1989
(PNDCL 218). The formalization of ASM in the country also aimed to
ensure safe and responsible mining. A series of regulations (e.g., Mining
and Mineral Act of 2006) were later enacted to help minimize en-
vironmental and safety concerns, and to boost the potential of ASM to
contribute to socioeconomic development in the country. The mining
regulations required Ghanaian citizens of at least 18 years of age to
acquire a license from the Minerals Commission to engage in ASM.
However, the ASM sector in Ghana is still largely informal and char-
acterized by illegalities (Teschner, 2012), resulting into two groups of
artisanal miners, small-scale miners–license holders and informal arti-
sanal and small-scale miners–unlicensed artisanal miners.
The ASM sector in the country is bedeviled with unsafe mining
practices (Bansah et al., 2016), social and human rights issues (Hilson,
2010a), conflicts (Okoh, 2014), and environmental issues, such as
widespread land degradation and water pollution (Boadi et al., 2016).
Mercury, a toxic substance which is typically used by the gold miners
during gold extraction, has found its way (mainly through poor hand-
ling) into rivers, fishes, and soils; sometimes, reaching unacceptable
levels (Clifford, 2017). At some point, many foreign nationals invaded
rural areas in the country, degrading forests, lands, and important
rivers in search of gold (Hilson et al., 2014). Even though the Ghanaian
security forces arrested and deported many of these gold miners, there
are still a number of them operating illegally in the country (Bansah
et al., 2016). More recently, Bansah et al. (2018b) reported that some
large-scale gold mining companies in Ghana purchased tailings (a by-
product of sluicing) from artisanal gold miners to augment their gold
processing activities because they (large firms) have advanced tech-
nology to optimize recovery. In their analysis, the authors argued that
the trading arrangements had increased informal artisanal gold mining
activities leading to increased scope of environmental degradation,
since the sale and purchase of the tailings were not regulated.
As a result of these confusions in the ASM sector, the Ghanaian
government instituted a series of initiatives to sanitize the ASM sector
in the country. In early 2017, the government established the Inter-
Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) to oversee reforms in
the ASM sector, and enlisted 10 government ministries as its member-
ship. The ministries included Environment, Science, Technology and
Innovation; Lands and Natural Resources; Monitoring and Evaluation;
Local Government and Rural Development; Chieftaincy and Religious
Affairs; Regional Re-Organization and Development; Interior; Defense;
Information; and Water and Sanitation ministries. The IMCIM had
seven core responsibilities: (i) to strengthen existing stakeholder
agencies related to the ASM sector, including Minerals Commission,
Environmental Protection Agency, Water Commission, and Forestry
Commission; (ii) to ensure that these stakeholder agencies enforce ex-
isting ASM laws; (iii) to set-up ad hoc district mining committees to
coordinate the ministries constituting the IMCIM; (iv) to vet and verify
more than 1000 legally registered ASM companies and to regularize any
discrepancies where possible; (v) to sanitize and regularize ASM ac-
tivities in the various mining districts to ensure that miners work within
the legal framework; (vi) to train artisanal and small-scale miners in
sustainable mining and mineral processing practices; and (vii) to co-
ordinate activities related to alternative livelihoods for the youth,
especially unregistered miners in various mining communities. A mor-
atorium was placed on ASM to temporarily suspend ASM activities and
to stem the ever-increasing levels of environmental degradation. This
ban was intended for six months, but was later extended indefinitely
until it was partially lifted in December 2018 to cover only licensed
artisanal miners.1 As an additional intervention, the government
1
Ban on small-scale mining lifted [Retrieved on January 1, 2019 from www.
2
Resources Policy 64 (2019) 101475
formed a security taskforce (named Operation Vanguard) made of up of
400 personnel from the country's police and military to clamp down on
gold miners who defy the ban. However, the involvement of the se-
curity taskforce created a chaotic environment characterized by fatal-
ities, violent confrontations, shooting, and burning of expensive
equipment belonging to the gold miners (Hilson, 2017).
In previous studies, many artisanal gold miners in the country
claimed that ASM was their only source of livelihood and that they
engaged in the activity for survival (Andrews, 2015). The artisanal gold
miners argued that their lack of formal education and technical know-
how excluded them from skilled jobs. These artisanal gold miners were
mainly poor locals who engaged in mining to support themselves and
their dependents. Zvarivadza and Nhleko (2018) also stated that ASM is
the main source of livelihood for many uneducated and unemployable
miners who view mining as a means to deal with hardship. This position
is consistent with views expressed by many other researchers who see
ASM as an important poverty-reduction enterprise (e.g., Fisher et al.,
2009). This present study explores the livelihood activities currently
undertaken by the affected gold miners to cope with and adapt to the
ban on informal ASM in the country. Despite the ban, media reports,23
suggest that some informal gold miners still engage in ASM, sometimes
working at night to evade security forces. Bansah et al. (2016) reported
similar incidence where the gold miners evaded government security
forces by working at night. In this study, two related biological
terms–diurnal and nocturnal–were adopted to describe the current
working convolutions associated with informal ASM in Ghana. In bio-
logical sciences, diurnal is used to describe organisms which are most
active during the day, and nocturnal is used to refer to organisms which
are most active in the night. Relying on empirical data from south-
western Ghana where many of the artisanal gold miners are still op-
erating regardless of the ban and the harsh crackdowns by security
forces, the two biological terms were adopted to partly describe the
current strategies adopted by the informal artisanal and small-scale
gold miners. The study also aims to highlight the push-pull factors,
determine the challenges the miners face in their quest for livelihoods,
and explore the views of the artisanal miners on government's proposed
alternative livelihood projects.
2. Study area and methods
2.1. Study area
The study was conducted in five communities within the Tarkwa-
Nsuaem Municipal Assembly (TNMA), located in southwestern Ghana
(Fig. 1). The main livelihood activities in these areas are mining and
farming, with many people engaged in informal mining. The TNMA is
host to four large-scale multinational mining companies: three gold
mines and one manganese mine. There is a small-scale mining district
office located in Tarkwa, the capital city of the TNMA. This small-scale
mining district office was established by the Minerals Commission to
provide oversight and technical services to artisanal and small-scale
miners. The small-scale mining district office is mandated by law to
oversee ASM activities and provide services such as advising and sup-
porting potential artisanal and small-scale miners on licensing proce-
dures; visiting licensed ASM sites to guide the miners on en-
vironmentally-safe mining practices; and demarcating areas suitable for
(footnote continued)
myjoyonline.com/news/2018/December-14th/ban-on-small-scale-mining-lif-
ted.php].
2
42 people arrested for illegal mining [Retrieved on January 27, 2019 from
http://businessghana.com/site/news/general/157355/42-People-arrested-for-
illegal-mining].
3
31 arrested for engaging in galamsey in Ashanti [Retrieved on January 27,
2019 from www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/31-Arrested-
for-engaging-in-galamsey-in-Ashanti-707144].
K.J. Bansah Resources Policy 64 (2019) 101475

Fig. 1. Study area.

ASM. By 2016, only 15 licensed miners, employing more than 500
people were into active operations (Bansah et al., 2016). Many of the
miners in the area operated without licenses. These informal artisanal
and small-scale miners who operate without licenses are referred lo-
cally as ‘galamsey’ operators. ‘Galamsey’ is a term derived from the
English phrase “gather them and sell.”
2018 to August 2018 in the local Akan language by the author and three
local recruits. The services of an interpreter were not required since the
interviewers could speak and understand the local language. On the
average, each interview lasted for 45 minutes.
2.3. Data analysis

The audio-recorded responses were transcribed verbatim, and the

2.2. Data collection
transcripts were verified with records from the field notes. Additional
verification of the transcript was performed by listening to the audio
In-depth interviews were used to collect data from 52 informal ar-
recordings twice and comparing participants’ responses with the tran-
tisanal and small-scale gold miners. With the help of locals, purposive
scripts. The inductive method of thematic analysis was used to analyze
sampling and snowballing were used to select the study participants. An
the qualitative data. The entire dataset was first read and reread mul-
interview guide was developed and tested among 10 informal artisanal
tiple times to become very familiar with its content. The dataset was
and small-scale gold miners. The interview guide was later revised to
coded, and all the codes and relevant data extracts collated. This pro-
account for pertinent issues or concerns that were raised during the
cess was followed by the identification of potential themes and sub-
testing. This revised interview guide was employed for the study.
themes. These identified themes were carefully reviewed and refined by
Confidentiality and anonymity were stressed to encourage the study
combining and discarding some of the themes. The revised themes were
participants and to give them some level of assurance. With the consent
studied in detail and defined by assigning names. The final stage in-
of the participant, the interviews were audio recorded in addition to
volved selection of compelling extracts and analyzing the extracts for a
field notes. In some instances, responses from the study participants
narrative.
were recorded in the field notebooks only. Each participant was as-
signed a unique code to stress anonymity. For example, the first study
participant was assigned R1 (meaning participant or respondent 1). 3. Results
Following the interviews, the responses were read back to the study
participants to offer them the opportunity to correct any incorrect re- The results of the study are presented under six main thematic areas
sponse or misrepresentation. The interviews were conducted from April that emerged during data analysis. These six main themes are further

3
K.J. Bansah
Fig. 2. Themes and sub-themes which emerged from the study.
categorized into sub-themes as shown in Fig. 2. Thus, this section is
presented under the following key thematic areas:
• Sociodemographic characteristics
• Mining method
• Push-pull factors
• Current coping and adaptation strategies
• Challenges with working in ASM
• Alternative livelihoods
3.1. Sociodemographic characteristics of study participants
The sociodemographic characteristics of the study participants are
presented in Table 1. The minimum and maximum ages of the study
participants are 17 and 40 years, respectively, while the average age
ranges from 22 to 30 years across the study communities. About 81% of
the study participants had completed a three-year Junior High School,
while 19% had no formal education. While 85% of the participants
depended on ASM as their only source of livelihood, 15% engaged in
both ASM and informal farming for income. These participants had
engaged in ASM for at least two years and earned monthly incomes
ranging from GHS 800 (USD 163) to GHS 6000 (USD 1220). Each of
these miners supported at least two dependents, with one miner from
Nsuaem supporting 11 dependents.
4
Resources Policy 64 (2019) 101475
3.2. Mining methods
The miners employed three types of methods comprising the use of
dredge, changfa, and mobile metal detectors to recover gold from gold-
bearing soils. The dredge method is conducted in rivers, and involves
sucking gold-laden sediments from the riverbed via a suction pipe with
the aid of a suction pump mounted on a floating platform on the river.
The excavated gold-laden sediments are either sluiced directly on the
floating platform or transported for sluicing at the riverbank. Following
sluicing, mercury is added to the concentrates to form mercury-gold
amalgam which is later heated to evaporate/release the mercury to
liberate the gold.
The changfa method is derived from a made-in-China motor which
is used to power a locally-assembled crushing unit. The technique in-
volves excavating gold-bearing rocks or gravels and fragmenting them
with the crushing unit which is anchored to a sluicing board for direct
washing (sluicing). The concentrates obtained after washing undergo
similar processes described for the dredge method.
With the metal detector method, a mobile hand-held metal detector
fitted with a gold sensor of varying frequency is used to hover over the
ground where the miners suspect the presence of gold. A beeping sound
from the tool (metal detector) suggests the presence of gold. The miners
then use simple tools such as pickaxes and shovels to dig the area to
search for the gold. The method is typically used to detect gold nuggets,
free gold, or pieces of gold attached to rocks at depths of two to 5 m.
K.J. Bansah Resources Policy 64 (2019) 101475

Table 1 Table 2
Sociodemographic characteristics of study participants. Factors contributing to participation in ASM.
Characteristics Community No. Push-pull factor Percentage (%)

Tarkwa Bonsa Dompim Simpa Nsuaem 1 Increased poverty 38

2 Lack of jobs 19
Participants 12 15 10 7 8 3 Lack of formal education 15
4 Family dependency 12
Age (Years) Average 28 30 25 26 22 5 Lack of competing alternative livelihoods 10
Minimum 20 25 18 18 17 6 Quick returns 4
Maximum 36 40 38 37 39 7 Natural entitlements to gold field 2

Education Level Junior 8 15 7 6 6

High
from Bonsa. With his father's ailing situation and his mother's inability
School
No School 4 0 3 1 2 to support his education, he was drawn into informal ASM at a tender
age of 11 years with the intent to raise income to support his family and
Livelihood ASM 8 13 10 6 7 his education. He stated strongly that he was forced into informal ASM
ASM & 4 2 0 1 1 due to serious economic hardship.
Farming
My father was seriously ill. My mother was not working; we were
ASM Experience Average 8 10 5 8 10
doing subsistence farming. So it was just about ‘hand to mouth
(Years) Minimum 5 4 2 6 8
Maximum 11 14 9 10 15 thing’. My mother didn't even have money to send my father to the
hospital, how will she pay my school fees? So I dropped out of
Monthly Income Average 1200 1400 1100 1250 1300 school to look for something to do. You know, small-scale mining
(GHS) Minimum 800 900 850 950 800 was common here…so I walked there one day and started carrying
Maximum 3200 3600 3500 3300 6000
some of the load for money. R10
Dependents Average 4 5 5 3 6 Lack of jobs also strongly featured in the reasons why the partici-
Minimum 3 4 3 2 4
Maximum 10 8 7 5 11
pants engaged in informal ASM. While 19% of the study participants
are of the view that lack of jobs is what pushes them into informal ASM,
15% assert that their lack of formal education excludes them from
Since these pieces of gold are free, they do not undergo further pro- skilled employment and are therefore confined to jobs which do not
cessing except when pieces of nuggets are to be aggregated together require special skills.
using the mercury amalgamation process. The gold produced by the In Ghana, adult family members play a significant role in the de-
miners is sold to potential buyers or given to financiers (sponsors). In velopment of their younger ones because of sociocultural mores. In this
some instances, the gold is sold to the sponsors at discounted prices. study, 12% of the study participants indicated that they are forced into
informal ASM because they serve as breadwinners, providing for the
financial needs of their families. Some of the participants (10%) also
3.3. Push-pull factors indicated that the lack of competing alternative livelihoods is what
necessitated their engagement in informal ASM. While 4% of the par-
Participants were asked to mention the factors that contributed to ticipants engaged in informal ASM because they received quick returns
their participation in informal ASM, and then rank the factors in order (i.e., they received daily or weekly incomes), 2% engaged in ASM be-
of significance using ranking numbers starting from 1 to 10 (where 1 is cause they see it as their natural entitlements, stating that informal ASM
most significant). These rankings were tallied and used to select the had been practiced by their grandparents, their parents, and other fa-
push-pull factors. The main push-pull factors identified were increased mily members over many years on their traditionally owned parcels of
poverty, lack of jobs, lack of formal education, family dependency, lack lands.
of competing alternative livelihoods,4 and quick returns (Table 2).
For most (38%) of the study participants, increasing levels of pov- 3.4. Current coping and adaptation strategies
erty is the major contributor to their participation in informal ASM.
According to some of the participants, their poverty situation was so The informal artisanal miners adopted five strategies to cope with
dire that they had to sometimes grovel for pittances from people to feed and adapt to the ASM ban. These included defying the ASM ban to work
themselves and their families. As young as 12 years, some of the par- during the day or night, or both day and night, migrate to neighboring
ticipants had to drop out of school to engage in ASM for income to feed countries to work in ASM, or engage in informal farming and ASM
their families because their families’ financial situation worsened. One (Table 3). The artisanal miners essentially continued to work in in-
study participant recounted: formal ASM even though the ban was still in force. A significant pro-
The situation in the house was just hopeless. It was really bad for me portion (85%) of the miners engaged in informal ASM while the ban
and my family. I had to go to friends to beg for money for the family. was active. Out of this, 10% worked during the day, while 55% worked
We would go to bed sometimes on an empty stomach with no hope during the night. An estimated 20% worked in informal ASM in both
for the next morning. It was very tough, so I dropped out of school day and night. About 5% of the artisanal miners indicated that they
and joined them [ASM]. I started making some money which sometimes engaged in both informal farming (subsistence farming) and
brought some relief to the family. R6 ASM.
Another emerging trend is the migration of artisanal miners to
This account is similar to the narrative of a 22 year old participant neighboring countries. The study found that about 10% of the miners
had previously migrated from Ghana to neighboring countries such as
4
According to the informal artisanal miners, alternative livelihoods available Liberia and Ivory Coast to engage in ASM due to the ban. These miners
to them offer inadequate incomes. Thus, competing alternative livelihood is who migrated to neighboring countries to work in ASM indicated that
defined as livelihood activity which provides similar or better income to the they traveled via the ocean and challenging territories. A participant's
artisanal miners. account which is similar to the accounts of several artisanal miners who

5
K.J. Bansah
Table 3
Coping and adaptation strategies adopted by the artisanal miners.
No. Strategy Percentage (%)
1 Work during the day 10
2 Work during the night 55
3 Work during day and night 20
4 Engage in informal farming and ASM 5
5 Migrate to neighboring countries to work in ASM 10
traveled under dangerous circumstances to other countries to partici-
pate in ASM provides additional insight:
I was approached by a certain man who said he could arrange for me
and my friends to travel to Liberia to engage in ASM. I obliged since
it was difficult to work in Ghana. We were 50 people who traveled
on the sea for two weeks to get to Liberia. It was not good at all. The
trip was very dangerous and unhealthy. We had to walk through the
forests and bushes in Liberia for several days before getting to our
final destination. We didn't have a place to stay at the place where
we worked. We worked for free for three weeks to offset our travel
costs. It was very difficult for some of us…that is why I returned
home to continue here. R15
3.5. Challenges with working in ASM
The study participants identified three main challenges with
working in informal ASM in Ghana. These included brutalities by se-
curity forces, destruction of mining equipment, and arrest, prosecution,
or extortion by security forces. Even though many of the study parti-
cipants had not been brutalized by the government security forces, they
were concerned about the rapid invasion of their mining sites by the
security forces and frequent human rights abuses of their colleague gold
miners. About 60% of the study participants reported the destruction of
their mining equipment by security forces. In some instances, their
mining equipment were set ablaze and completely burnt by the security
forces. A study participant stated that he incurred costs of more than
GHS 200,000 for the destruction of his mining facilities by the gov-
ernment security forces.
‘Vanguard’ [government security forces] destroyed all my equip-
ment. They destroyed four pumping machines, two washing plants,
the engine of my excavator, and other items. It cost me more than
GHS 220,000 to fix and replace some of the equipment. I completely
lost some of the equipment because they could not be fixed. R2
In addition, the study participants feared that they could be arrested
by the security forces and get prosecuted. While they kept working,
they were constantly under threat of being arrested. In some instances,
colleagues of theirs who were arrested had to pay certain sums of
monies for their release. Under such constant threats, the gold miners
resorted to contributing funds to payoff the security forces so that they
could work freely without any threat of arrest. According to the miners,
the payments were sometimes facilitated through ‘big men’. A study
participant illustrates this by stating the following:
We are often pursued by government security forces. We run and
leave our equipment behind. They destroy the equipment and
sometimes get to arrest our colleagues who could not escape. They
sometimes demand money from the people they arrest. If you can't
pay, they take you to the police station and to the law court. A
month ago, we had to contribute money to get one of our guys re-
leased by the security forces. One ‘big man’ later advised us to ‘find’
money for the security forces so that they stop disturbing us. We
started contributing money for them through one other ‘big man’.
Now, they hint us when they are coming for operations so that we
don't go to site on that particular day. Sometimes too they give us
6
Resources Policy 64 (2019) 101475
stickers to tag our equipment, and they don't do anything to those
equipment. That's how we have managed our activities so far. R9
3.6. Alternative livelihoods
In early 2017, the Government of Ghana announced an alternative
livelihood program5 for informal artisanal and small-scale miners with
the goal to attract and to move the miners completely out of mining.
The program was estimated to cost6 USD 10 million and included farm
projects such as oil palm cultivation and tree planting activities. During
the interviews, the study participants were asked about their readiness
to stop engaging in informal mining to participate in the government's
project. More than 80% of the study participants were of the view that
the government programs do not offer attractive or adequate incomes
like the informal ASM. About 15% of the study participants indicated
that they would move out of informal ASM only if the government
projects offered incomes of more than GHS 1,000. Less than 5% of the
study participants stated that they would like to participate in the
government's alternative livelihoods program regardless of the income
amount since they were under constant threat of arrest or abuse by
government security forces.
4. Discussion
Artisanal and small-scale mining in Ghana is characterized by
widespread environmental degradation resulting from irresponsible
mining practices that have caused increased water pollution and
threatened water supply and health of consumers. As a result, the
Ghanaian government banned ASM in March 2017 for a period of six
months, but later extended the ban indefinitely until December 2018
when it was lifted for only registered/licensed artisanal gold miners. It
is estimated that the population of informal artisanal gold miners in the
country is more than twice those engaged in licensed ASM activities
(Owusu et al., 2019). Thus, a larger population of artisanal gold miners
in Ghana have their livelihoods curtailed due to the ban. As previously
stated, many artisanal gold miners in the country have described ASM
as their only means of livelihood. It is evident in the study that informal
artisanal gold miners will continue to engage in their informal mining
activities irrespective of the forces that may come against them. Despite
human rights abuses and destruction of mining equipment by govern-
ment security taskforce, informal artisanal gold miners in the country
continue to dig for gold using several techniques such as digging at
night or using ‘noise free’ mobile gold detectors to evade security
forces. Though some of the informal gold miners work during the day or
both day and night in defiance to the ban, many operate at night with
the main aim to evade security forces. The gold detector for gold pro-
specting is particularly adopted since the tool only beeps at the detec-
tion of gold or metal, making it possible for the informal gold miners to
even operate close to settlements without being noticed by government
security forces.
Over several decades, the government has used military/security
interventions as a means to ‘fight’ informal ASM in Ghana. However,
this approach has failed to yield the expected results. As evidenced in
this study, and while corruption can partly be blamed for the failure of
security interventions in stemming informal gold mining, it is strongly
argued that the lack of alternative high-paying jobs for the informal
miners, the resolve to dig, and the strong desire to keep their livelihood
are among the prime reasons why the government efforts have failed
5
Government to provide alternative livelihood for illegal miners [Retrieved
on February 4, 2019 from www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/
Government-to-provide-alternative-livelihood-for-illegal-miners-611123].
6
Alternative livelihood program for illegal miners to cost $10m [Retrieved on
February 4, 2019 from http://citifmonline.com/2017/04/24/alternative-
livelihood-programme-for-illegal-miners-to-cost-10m/].
K.J. Bansah
over the years. Owusu et al., (2019) have also argued that the military
approach to dealing with informal ASM is short-lived and unsustainable
in the long term.
In previous studies, it was found that ASM helps to stem rural-urban
migration in Ghana (Bansah et al., 2016). In addition, many people
from different countries,7 including China, Senegal, Guinea, Mali,
Burkina Faso, Togo, and Ivory Coast, traveled to Ghana to engage in
informal artisanal mining. However, in this study, it is found that in-
formal artisanal gold miners from Ghana are also migrating to other
countries to engage in ASM because of scarcity of opportunities at
home. Additionally, the gold miners believe that those countries have
lax mining regulations resulting in weak oversight and enforcement.
Over the years, many young people from various African countries
have braced dangerous routes, including via boats on the
Mediterranean Sea, and migrated to Europe to seek greener pastures.
This migration pattern has received extensive media coverage, and
reports8 suggest that several thousands of these migrants perish during
these perilous journeys. As a result, several governments and organi-
zations are continuously looking for a means to stem the menace. It has
emerged in this study that artisanal gold miners who have few or no
livelihood alternatives as a result of a ban on their mining activities also
migrate to neighboring countries through long death-defying routes on
land and ocean to engage in artisanal mining. As artisanal gold mining
continues to be chaotic in Ghana but remains lucrative in neighboring
countries, artisanal gold miners who are known typically to brace ha-
zardous conditions in their everyday mining activities would continue
to migrate through dangerous, illegal paths to engage in mining. This
situation could add to the existing migrant crises and ocean deaths that
have become topical on the international stage. Thus, a well-reformed
informal ASM sector in Ghana could contribute to curtailing this bur-
geoning ASM-induced migration.
Hilson (2010b) performed a study of artisanal diamond mining in
the Eastern Region of Ghana, and observed that artisanal miners were
generally driven into mining activities as a result of poverty and not a
mentality to get rich quickly. His findings were in sharp contrast to the
commonly held narrative that informal artisanal miners participate in
ASM with the desire to enrich themselves. As the empirical data suggest
in this study, artisanal gold miners in southwestern Ghana are drawn
into ASM largely due to poverty. While 38% of the miners engaged in
informal ASM due to increased poverty, less than 5% participated in the
mining activity with the view to obtaining quick earnings. These find-
ings support the arguments made by Hilson (2010b), and negate the
usual narratives. As stated by Bansah et al (2018a, p.466), a parlance
that has become popular among informal gold miners in Ghana is, “It is
better to die looking for food than to sit and die from hunger.” Confined
in a vicious cycle of poverty and cramped almost to a permanent,
hopeless socioeconomic caste, many young ambitious people drop out
of school to engage in ASM to secure income to improve the economic
woes of their families. Unfortunately, they get trapped in the informal
activity that would become a major part of their everyday lives. In-
formal mining is inseparable from their lives; since they dig to survive.
Bansah et al. (2018a) reported that artisanal miners in southwestern
Ghana were aware of their environmentally damaging mining activ-
ities. In this study also, the artisanal miners acknowledge that their
mining activities degrade the environment, but contend that they lack
the technical know-how to control the environmental pollution issues
7
Fanteakwa south residents raise alert over foreigners engaged in galamsey
[Retrieved March 3, 2019 from www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/
NewsArchive/Fanteakwa-South-residents-raise-alert-over-foreigners-engaged-
in-galamsey-727510#].
8
African migrants turn to deadly ocean routes as options narrow [Retrieved
March 3, 2019 from https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-migrants-africa/
african-migrants-turn-to-deadly-ocean-route-as-options-narrow-
idUKKBN1O210G].
7
Resources Policy 64 (2019) 101475
related to their activities. They are also of the view that restoring the
productive capacity of degraded soils could be costly and daunting to
them because they are unable to access financial, technical, or en-
gineering support. In the agriculture sector, the government and other
organizations provide some form of technical and financial assistance to
farmers to help improve their farming practices and to increase their
farm yields. The artisanal miners believe that they can dig safely and
protect the environment if similar supports are extended to them.
While re-echoing formalization of the artisanal gold mining sector
in Ghana to improve the sector, it is also acknowledged that previous
efforts by the government to organize the sector have been character-
ized by widespread corruption which appears to undermine any such
efforts. For example, the artisanal gold miners report bribery and cor-
ruption among officials assigned to oversee the artisanal gold mining
sector. The gold miners indicate that they sometimes bribe the officials
to allow them to operate without a license. Though their claim could
not be verified by the author, a recent undercover investigation by an
internationally-recognized undercover investigative journalist appears
to lend credence to the claim. The investigative journalist uncovers
with video evidence9 a pay-to-play corruption among some security and
government officials responsible for reforms in the artisanal gold
mining sector in the country. Teschner (2012, p.313) identified cor-
ruption as an “obvious barrier” to reforming the ASM sector in Ghana,
and suggested tackling law enforcement corruption as a “top reform
priority”. Further, Hilson et al. (2014) reported that some local-level
actors and authority figures extracted bribes from artisanal miners. The
observations in the undercover video support these longstanding views
of corrupt practices in the ASM sector in the country.
Given the chaotic artisanal gold mining situation in the West African
country, an unending corrupt practices among certain oversight in-
stitutions, and the desire of the gold miners to continue mining re-
gardless of the challenges that confront them, the government can
pursue an effective and comprehensive formalization of the sector.
Bansah et al. (2018a) described economic, political, social, regulatory,
and technological factors as major drivers for informal artisanal gold
mining in Ghana, and observed that formalization of the informal ar-
tisanal gold mining sector could improve socioeconomic and environ-
mental impacts of the sector. The authors acknowledged that for-
malization of the artisanal gold mining sector could be daunting, but
contended that with commitment, political will, and support from sta-
keholders, authorities would be able to formalize the sector to bring
about the needed socioeconomic development and environmental per-
formance. They further suggested that the formalization process should
include awareness campaign, organizing, regulation, and taxation. Yet,
the factors which influence informal ASM in the country still persist.
The problems surrounding informal artisanal mining cannot be suffi-
ciently addressed when the contributing factors are not appropriately
tackled.
Therefore, in addition to the previous proposals for artisanal mining
formalization, authorities should ensure recognition and non-dis-
crimination by adopting deliberative stakeholder engagement; estab-
lishment of strong, reliable, nonpartisan, accountable, and inclusive
institutions; development of merit-based criteria for appointing officials
to serve in oversight institutions; and effective capacity building and
education of stakeholders. These recommendations could help tackle
some of the challenges that confront the artisanal gold mining sector,
improve safety, socioeconomic, and environmental issues, and promote
sustainable mining.
5. Conclusion
The government of Ghana banned artisanal mining in early 2017,
9
Anas' Galamsay Fraud - Latest undercover work - Part 1 [Retrieved May 14,
2019 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Erx0ENwJFw].
K.J. Bansah
forcing a large number of local population who depended on this type
of mining to lose their livelihoods. Deprived of their only source of
income, and in a desperate move to earn income to support themselves
and their dependents, the gold miners returned to engage in the banned
activity despite the risks. The gold miners diversified their exploitation
techniques; while some engaged in mining during the day, a significant
number operated during the night or resorted to the use of noise-free
mobile gold detectors to evade government's security forces. Further,
unable to withstand the chaos surrounding artisanal mining in the
country, many gold miners braced arduous circumstances over the Gulf
of Guinea and unknown territories to engage in artisanal mining in
neighboring countries. The following conclusions can be drawn:
• Informal artisanal mining is still actively practiced in Ghana despite
the government's ban.
• Informal artisanal gold miners in Ghana have diversified their
mining techniques.
• Many informal artisanal miners operate during the night to evade
security forces.
• Informal artisanal mining continues to offer lucrative incomes in the
absence of competing alternative livelihoods.
• Many of the miners engage in informal mining not because they
want to get rich quickly but due to poverty.
• Government's alternative livelihood projects for the miners offer
unattractive incomes and may fail to attract the informal miners.
• The artisanal mining sector in Ghana is presently chaotic and is
characterized by human rights abuses, corruption, and widespread
environmental degradation.
•
Due to the government's action, artisanal miners from Ghana are
forced to brace dangerous, unapproved terrains to engage in in-
formal mining in neighboring countries.
Given the current challenges facing the ASM sector in the country,
the author re-echoes an effective and comprehensive formalization to-
wards sustainable mining to ensure safe, responsible mining and to
improve socioeconomic and environmental performance and steward-
ship. As previously stated, such formalization could include the adop-
tion of deliberative stakeholder engagement; establishment of strong,
reliable, nonpartisan, accountable, and inclusive institutions; develop-
ment of merit-based criteria for the appointment of officials for over-
sight institutions; effective capacity building and education of stake-
holders; and provision of technical and financial supports.
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