Barksanem™’s approach, and the one that is used in our License, is to be a key stakeholder in its territory where it is established, actively contributing to the formalization of artisanal gold miners and to the development of said territory. The philosophy of its founding team is that the activities of a company, and of
The relational challenges between mining companies and artisanal gold miners are not new and are fairly universal from one country to the next. As we wrote in two previous articles (Formalization of Artisanal Gold Mining 1 and 2), the role that semi-industrial and small-scale mining companies can play is decisive for Artisanal Mining. These companies, especially,
When a mining site « dies », after being mined, whether it was industrial, semi-industrial or artisanal, the area where it is located does not die. In these abandoned areas, communities remain, sometimes even a few animal species that try to reclaim their living space. However, more rarely, plant species remain stunted because their soil has been so
On barely visible bush paths, followed by his wife Fatou and their three little boys, Noufou and his family had trekked a very long distance, sleeping at night under a tree, lost in the middle of nowhere, trying to beg for a little food in the villages they passed. They crossed the border hiding from
From a sustainable development perspective, and ultimately from a development perspective, the aspect of mine site rehabilitation is crucial. When you visit a former artisanal gold mining site, but also semi-mechanized and industrial mine site, even if the challenges are sometimes different, you quickly understand how crucial it is. In West Africa, the mining sites
Since the 2000s, I[1]have worked in the mining space, I’ve been exclusively focused on the world of artisanal gold miners (ASM) and semi-industrial mining . During that time, I have often been offered significant investments to develop industrial operations instead. The world of ASM is too often considered difficult to manage and particularly unprofitable. And as
What can we do about Justin the artisanal miner ? I appreciate everyone’s feedback on the article about “Justin” the artisanal miner. First of all, let me say that “Justin” is obviously a fictional young person that painfully and honestly depicts the harsh reality of thousands of young boys and girls across Africa (I am
It’s the middle of the night when this little man wakes up. He is only about twelve years old. Nobody knows exactly when he was born. He stretches out on his worn mat. He wears the work clothes he wore yesterday and the days before that. His clothes are dusty and black with sweat, torn
When I (Etienne) started working in artisanal mining in West Africa, artisanal gold mining was seen, by international and government agencies, as a problem that had to be eradicated at all costs. As a result, the world of artisanal gold mining had to remain anonymous and informal, they didn’t fit current frameworks… Today things have
One of the emerging topics that’s come out is the mercury agenda. Artisanal and small-scale miners and the processing centers where they take their ore, are the number one emitter of human-released mercury in the world. As a result of this, there is a treaty that was signed in 2013 called the Minamata Convention. This
