Illegal Gold Mining and Violence in Colombia

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolás Idrobo ◽  
Daniel Mejía ◽  
Ana María Tribin
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Gold Rush ◽  
Mining Activities ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Forced Displacement ◽  
Illegal Mining ◽  
International Price ◽  
Indigenous Reserves

AbstractThe increase in the international price of commodities after the international financial crisis in 2008 produced a gold rush in the Colombian economy, making legal and illegal mining a very profitable and attractive business. The increase in the illegal exploitation of metals like gold has exacerbated violence in municipalities with an abundance of such minerals. Gold is believed to be a new engine in the Colombian conflict. This paper documents the phenomenon and quantifies the causal impact that the gold boom has had on indicators of violence such as homicides, forced displacement and massacres. We use the location of national parks, indigenous reserves and geochemical anomalies associated with the presence of gold mines as instruments for illegal mining in order to disentangle the causal effect of illegal mining on violence. By law, it is very difficult to get licenses for the extraction of gold in parks and indigenous reserves, and this might be a factor increasing the prevalence of illegal mining activities in municipalities with these features. In order to have time variation in our instruments, we interact geographical features associated with the presence of gold and illegal gold mining (which vary only at the municipal level) with the international price of gold. Our estimates indicate that the rise of illegal gold mining has caused a statistically significant increase in violence, as measured with the homicide rate and the victims of massacres. However, we do not find a significant causal effect of illegal gold mining on forced displacement. Our interpretation is that the increase in the profitability of illegal mining activities has sparked a dispute over territorial control between illegal armed groups in order to monopolize the extraction of the precious minerals. Nevertheless, illegal mining is a labor intensive activity, and this may have counteracted the incentives of illegal armed groups to displace local populations from their land.

scholarly journals Disarmament is the New War, Gold is the New Opium, and Ecohealth is the Historic Victim

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 117863021986224 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Villar ◽  
David J Schaeffer
Keyword(s):  
Organized Crime ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Gold Production ◽  
Illegal Mining ◽  
Criminal Organizations ◽  
Alluvial Gold ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Organized Crime Groups

In Colombia, the convergence of drug trafficking, illegal armed groups, and gold production and trade threatens peace and stability in the post-FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) era, as had the narcotics trade previously. Armed groups and criminal organizations have increased and consolidated their influence over illegal mining and may be diverting US$5 billion from Colombia’s annual economy. As of 2014, 46% of the total area (78 939 ha) exploited for alluvial gold was in the Afro-Colombian Pacific States, in which unregulated mining was the main driver of deforestation. The informal job market represents 49% of the workforce and absent other economic alternatives, this workforce of ex-guerrillas, organized crime groups and corrupt officials will sustain the black markets that permeate gold mining. Human health consequences of unregulated gold mining are largely unrecognized, but include the spread of malaria and other insect-borne diseases, and we suggest diseases such as babesiosis.

Forced displacement in Colombia: Magnitude and causes

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Maria Ibanez
Keyword(s):  
State Policy ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Illegal Drugs ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Forced Displacement ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Individual Basis ◽  
The Impact

The article describes the magnitude, geographical extent,  and causes of forced population displacements in Colombia. Forced migration in Colombia is a war strategy adopted by armed groups to strengthen territorial strongholds, weaken civilian support to the enemy, seize valuable lands, and produce and transport illegal drugs with ease. Forced displacement in Colombia today affects 3.5 million people. Equivalent to 7.8 percent of Colombia's population, and second worldwide only to Sudan, this shows the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis the country is facing. The phenomenon involves all of Colombia's territory and nearly 90 percent of the country's municipalities expel or receive population. In contrast to other countries, forced migration in Colombia is largely internal. Illegal armed groups are the main responsible parties, migration does not result in massive refugee streams but occurs on an individual basis, and the displaced population is dispersed throughout the territory and not focused in refugee camps. These characteristics pose unique challenges for crafting state policy that can effectively mitigate the impact of displacement.

ASSESSING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF GOLD MINING ACTIVITIES, SUKARI MINE, CENTRAL EASTERN DESERT, EGYPT

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Abdelaal ◽  
◽  
Mohamed Sultan ◽  
R.V. Krishnamurthy ◽  
Mustafa Kemal Emil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Eastern Desert ◽  
Mining Activities ◽  
Central Eastern Desert ◽  
Central Eastern

scholarly journals The outbreak of illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon boosts deforestation

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Siqueira-Gay ◽  
Luis E. Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Gold Mining ◽  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
Deforestation Rate ◽  
Mining Areas ◽  
Mineral Supply ◽  
Regional Policies ◽  
Illegal Mining ◽  
Conservation Of Biodiversity

AbstractIncreased prices and political pressure are boosting illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon, threatening forests, indigenous people, and conservation of biodiversity in protected areas. The rate of illegal mining deforestation increased more than 90% from 2017 to 2020, reaching 101.7 km2 annually in 2020 compared to 52.9 km2 annually in 2017. In that period, illegal mining deforestation rate grew more than the rate of clearing within mining leases. While formal mining is required to comply with environmental regulations, most small-scale or artisanal mining and especially illegal mining areas are abandoned after reserves are exhausted, without proper rehabilitation. Deforestation due to illegal mining is likely to increase in the next years, calling for coordination between local and regional policies as well as for strengthening and expanding international mechanisms to increase traceability of mineral supply chains with certification schemes to help to curb illegal mining.

scholarly journals An Investigation of the Socio-Economic Benefits of Small-Scale Gold Mining in Malawi

Mining ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-34
Author(s):  
Tiyamike Haundi ◽  
Gift Tsokonombwe ◽  
Steven Ghambi ◽  
Theresa Mkandawire ◽  
Ansley Kasambara
Keyword(s):  
Gold Mining ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Gold Rush ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
The Government

In the recent years, there has been a surge in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in various districts of Malawi. Reports of a gold rush have emerged in various districts, including Mangochi, Lilongwe, Balaka, and lately in Kasungu. There has been persistence by many indigenous communities participating in ASGM activities, yet little is being done by the government to formalize and support the sub-sector. The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits of artisanal small-scale gold mining in Malawi and expose the shortfalls so that key stakeholders and policy makers are well informed. A quantitative approach which used semi-structured questionnaires was used and the data was analyzed using Microsoft excel and Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study shows that ASGM is characterized by people with low literacy levels, who use traditional tools (low-tech) and use methods fueled by lack of capital, and deficiency of basic knowledge of mining and geology. The study found that the government could achieve substantial socio-economic development from the sector by: (1) revising the current artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) legislation so that it embraces the customary practices whilst safeguarding the environment and improving the tax collection base; (2) providing support in form of mining related training and education to these communities; (3) leading in transfer of modern technologies for improved extraction; (4) supporting ASM cooperatives in securing credit facilities from financial institutions; and (5) closing the existing knowledge gap for ASM related issues through introduction of mining desk officers in district councils.

scholarly journals Underground Multiculturalism: Contentious Cultural Politics in Gold-Mining Regions in Chocó, Colombia

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Jesse Jonkman
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Politics ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Mining Activities ◽  
Unique Form ◽  
Gold Extraction ◽  
Mining Regions ◽  
Instrumental Role ◽  
Community Councils

Abstract This article maps the contentious forms of political life that emerge when multicultural rights and non-formal gold extraction coincide. Specifically, it shows how, in the Colombian department of Chocó, Afro-descendant community councils have produced a unique form of mining governance that, while depending for its legitimacy on everyday uses of Afro-Colombian legislation, consists of the organisation, taxation and policing of mining activities that are in tension with official notions of extractive and multicultural law. In exploring such ‘underground’ cultural politics, the article highlights the limits of state-centric analyses of ‘neoliberal multiculturalism’ and, accordingly, underscores the instrumental role that governed subjects play in the on-the-ground unfolding of multicultural governance regimes.

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

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-570 ◽  
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.

Use of SAR interferometry for monitoring illegal mining activities: A case study at Xishimen Iron Ore Mine

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 781-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maowei Ji ◽  
Xiaojing Li ◽  
Shunchuan Wu ◽  
Yongtao Gao ◽  
Linlin Ge
Keyword(s):  
Iron Ore ◽  
Sar Interferometry ◽  
Mining Activities ◽  
Iron Ore Mine ◽  
Illegal Mining

scholarly journals History, Current Situation and Challenges of Gold Mining in Ecuador’s Litoral Region

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1220
Author(s):  
Carlos Mestanza-Ramón ◽  
Selene Paz-Mena ◽  
Carlos López-Paredes ◽  
Mirian Jimenez-Gutierrez ◽  
Greys Herrera-Morales ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Socioeconomic Impact ◽  
Mining Sector ◽  
Illegal Mining ◽  
Precautionary Measures

Gold mining in Ecuador has been present in the country since Inca times; over the years interest in the mineral has increased, leading to the creation of legislation to control the mining sector in a safe manner. The Litoral region consists of seven provinces, six of which have registered gold concessions; the most affected provinces are El Oro and Esmeraldas. The objective of this study was to analyze the historical and current situation of artisanal and industrial gold mining in the Litoral region of Ecuador. Different methodologies were used for the elaboration of this study, including bibliographic review, grey literature, field interviews and a validation of expert judgment. The main results indicate that El Oro and Esmeraldas are essentially the most conflictive areas in the region, as they have sometimes had to establish precautionary measures due to the risks caused by illegal mining. In addition, in both areas there is a great socioeconomic impact ranging from lack of opportunities, forgetfulness, migration, emigration, and violation of rights, among others. With respect to environmental impacts, the study highlights the contamination of water sources (which leads to a lack of drinking water for people), and damage to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Finally, the study concludes that the authorities should control the mining sector more by implementing more laws and carrying out inspections to put an end to illegal gold mining, in order to improve the situation in the areas.

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