How much do artisanal miners earn? An inquiry among Congolese gold miners

In recent years, the number of artisanal gold miners in Mongolia is drastically increasing. They use mercury to extract gold from ore and release it to the environment and this fact has been an issue of concern in the nation. In order to monitor the degree of exposure to mercury, artisanal miners' hairs from a typical mining site, Boroo, were analyzed by PIXE at Nishina Memorial Cyclotron Center, Japan. The result indicated that mercury content in the hairs is very low in spite of the miners' practice to work in mercury fume for smelting. However the result showed high level of arsenic, up to 3.2 ppm, although miners' do not use arsenic in the smelting process.

Download Full-text

Social- Economic Assessment and Profitability of Artisanal Gold Miners in Niger State, Nigeria

FUOYE Journal of Engineering and Technology ◽

10.46792/fuoyejet.v4i2.409 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Mbuyi M Melodi ◽

Ganiyu W Ajibade

Keyword(s):

Gold Mining ◽

Economic Assessment ◽

Primary Data ◽

Frequency Table ◽

Artisanal Gold Mining ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Ready Availability ◽

Gold Miners ◽

Economic Profile ◽

Artisanal Miners

This study centers on socio-economic assessment and profitability of artisanal gold miners in Niger State, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to examine artisanal gold miners’ socio-economic profile, examine the level of profitability of artisanal gold mining and identify the constraints determining the profitability of artisanal gold mining. Primary data was used which were obtained through the administration of structured questionnaires to randomly sampled artisanal gold miners in the study area. Descriptive statistics using charts, frequency table, mean, maximum, minimum and range, and inferential statistics using multiple linear regression, t-test were used as well as budgetary analysis. Profit difference of N 16,139.69 was noted between male and female artisan gold miners, with male earning a non-significantly (p>0.05) higher profit than the female artisans. Married artisan spent significantly (p<0.05) more (N106, 549.66) in running their various artisanal duties than the unmarried single artisans (N 87,036.67). Single artisans were noted to earn higher revenue than their married counterpart. This significant difference of N 20,897.09 can be accounted for by the ready availability of single unmarried artisans to work for longer hours per day without any distraction of family cares and obligations. This invariably leads to the significantly higher profit of single unmarried artisanal miners of N97, 051. Other significant determinants of artisanal gold profit level are miners’ age in years (p<0.01), experience at work in years (p<0.10) and years of work at current mine (p<0.05). Findings shows that artisanal miners were noted to be operating profitably in the study location; however, marital status, age of miners, years of experience and years of work in the current mine were found to be significant determinants of profitability and profit level of an average miners. Keywords – Profitability, Artisanal gold, Revenue, Socio-economic profile, constraints.

Download Full-text

Identification of Pulmonary Deposits from a Sandpaper Worker: A Study by Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100053061 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 40 ◽

pp. 52-53

Author(s):

S. K. Peng ◽

M.A. Egy ◽

J. K. Singh ◽

M.B. Bishop

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Environmental Pollution ◽

Rare Case ◽

Interstitial Fibrosis ◽

X Ray ◽

Documented Case ◽

Etiologic Agents ◽

Pulmonary Interstitial Fibrosis ◽

Gold Miners ◽

Pulmonary Changes

Electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis (EDXA) are found to be very useful tools for identification of etiologic agents in pneumoconiosis or interstitial pulmonary disorders. Pulmonary interstitial fibrosis and granulomatosis are frequently associated with occupational and environmental pollution. Numerous reports of pneumoconiosis in various occupations such as coal and gold miners are presented in the literature. However, there is no known documented case of pulmonary changes in workers in the sandpaper industry. This study reports a rare case of pulmonary granulomatosis containing deposits from abrasives of sandpaper diagnosed by using EDXA.

Download Full-text

Legacies of a nationwide crackdown in Zimbabwe:Operation Chikorokoza Chaperain gold mining communities

The Journal of Modern African Studies ◽

10.1017/s0022278x14000469 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 52 (4) ◽

pp. 541-570 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Samuel J. Spiegel

Keyword(s):

Gold Mining ◽

Physical Violence ◽

Power Dynamics ◽

Mining Sector ◽

Economic Interests ◽

Mining Communities ◽

Diamond Mining ◽

Illegal Mining ◽

Artisanal Miners ◽

Mining Regions

ABSTRACTAlthough conflict in Zimbabwe's diamond mining sector has recently received much international scrutiny, very little research has examined conflict in Zimbabwe's gold mining sector. This article analyses how a nationwide crackdown calledOperation Chikorokoza Chapera(‘No More Illegal Mining’) affected – and ‘disciplined’ – livelihoods in profound ways in both licensed and unlicensed gold mining regions. Drawing on interviews conducted between 2006 and 2013 with artisanal miners in the Insiza, Umzingwani and Kadoma areas as well as miners who crossed the border to Mozambique, the study reveals how a highly politicised crackdown led to uneven consequences. The analysis highlights both structural and physical violence, with more than 25,000 miners and traders arrested between 2006 and 2009 and more than 9,000 still imprisoned in 2013. Situating the crackdown within evolving political and economic interests, the study contributes to an understanding of how simplified discourses on ‘eradicating illegal mining’ mislead and mask power dynamics, while policing activities transform patterns of resource control. The study also emphasises that conceptualisations of the crackdown's legacy should carefully consider the agency of artisanal miners' associations, which, in some cases, have been actively seeking to resist coercive policies and rebuild livelihoods in the aftermath ofOperation Chikorokoza Chapera.

Download Full-text