The big pit of artisanal and small‑scale mining

By Alessia Corami

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) can range from manual subsistence mining using simple tools, and even performed by individuals or by family members in their homes’ backyards, to vocational mining with workers using light machinery. Both skilled and unskilled labour may be employed, and the informal sector accounts for a major share of ASM operations. The chief purpose of these operations is to extract minerals used for communications, construction, agriculture and clean technologies as well as gemstones along alluvial deposits. ASM is becoming increasingly important e.g. with regard to maintaining critical energy supply for the development of Artificial Intelligence, while it can provide alternative employment options in the agricultural sector, thus contributing to poverty alleviation. The activities often occur in remote locations, and they are considered the foremost nonfarm income source in rural regions in Africa, Asia and South America. ASM mineral extraction also plays a key role in facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Assessing how ASM should evolve and how its potential can be maximised is essential given the advantages it offers, such as low capital intensity and flexibility in responding to market dynamics, particularly to price fluctuations. Within an appropriate legal framework, ASM could contribute to poverty alleviation and to achieving a number of the Sustainable Development Goals. Nevertheless, despite investments by many international organisations over the last 50 years, ASM development is still in its infancy. And it also entails social, environmental and ecological implications. Environmental concerns, in particular, impact the quality of life and health of mineworkers, local residents, neighbouring communities and future generations.

Three pillars are essential in assessing the potential of ASM: environmental stewardship, occupational health and domestic revenue mobilisation. Efforts to support complementarity between international markets and the aim of professionalising the ASM sector to reach a better development are supported by the World Bank, whose goal is a world with no poverty on a liveable planet. The most critical issue is reducing the risk for mineworkers, people living in the mining area and its environment. Hence social impact and the environment are the two fundamental aspects in making ASM a legal and regulated activity.

Social aspects

Recent studies state that more than 200 million people are involved in ASM, around 30 per cent of whom are women with roles ranging from labour-intensive mining activities to those of pit boss, mine owner and financier. Furthermore, women in ancillary roles are marginalised and, worst, women in the sector face inequities in pay. ASM can be an easy way to gain support for families and themselves, and to sustain farming activities, household well-being, healthcare and shelter. Furthermore, limited options, a lenient political climate and occasional police corruption are cited as reasons for taking such posts. 

Women panning and refining gold along Rocky River Bank in Werie River, Tigray. ‎
Photo: Tewodros Hailemichael/ shutterstock.com

One major drawback of ASM is the authorities’ inadequate oversight of mining operations, which damages the environment and reduces the quality of life for miners and their families. Prolonged, physically demanding work combined with limited knowledge about chemical exposures undermines workers’ health and safety. Common conditions in the sector include silicosis, from inhaling fine crystalline silica, and Minamata disease, caused by mercury contamination. Metals released into soil and surface and groundwater can enter the food chain, posing a risks to human health. The sector also experiences high rates of sexually transmitted infections and a rise in sexual and gender-based violence. Despite high school dropout rates, income from ASM can sometimes help families afford schooling.

As ASM expands, disputes with large‑scale mining over concessions, vandalism and even violent attacks on workers are becoming more common. A formal legal framework for ASM – and, in some cases, financial support from rival LSM firms – can help defuse these conflicts. A well‑designed fiscal regime could increase domestic revenues and improve regulation for ASM workers, protecting incomes while preserving social protection and access to services. Savings schemes can also help stabilise the sector; for instance, the Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT) has introduced a savings programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo based on a women‑entrepreneur model from Myanmar.

Environmental aspects

People living close to ASM areas are deeply affected by environmental degradation and be exposed to hazardous substances which enter the soil, water and, ultimately, the food chain. This also applies to abandoned pits which may still be emitting contaminants. Restoring ASM areas is difficult because tailings cover the topsoil, characterised by a lack of nutrients, so that fertility declines. Thus, ASM activity can result in a loss of agriculture, food insecurity and community vulnerability, which in turn this might oblige more people to work in the ASM sector – a downward spiral.

Restoring ASM areas is difficult. Thus, ASM activity can result in a loss of agriculture and food insecurity.
Photo: Hybrid_Production Ethiopia/ shutterstock.com

ASM should adopt clear, scaled‑down environmental rules suited to the size of each operation, and pair those rules with incentives and stronger governance to encourage miners to change their practices and improve environmental outcomes.

Educational aspects

Providing education and training for miners in the ASM sector and making them professionals while increasing scientific and social knowledge can help generate new employment opportunities, raise well-being for miners and their families, and contribute to revenue generation supporting the future generations. There is a lack of staff to conduct fieldwork (e.g. geological mapping) and to train ASM miners, and, importantly, miners are generally illiterate and cannot obtain training and educational material. In professionalising the sector and achieving best practice, it has to be borne in mind that best practice standards have been established mostly by the LSM and that implementing them is costly.

Effective management of environmental practices to reduce risks to soil and water is essential; this requires equipping ASM with geological and mineralization data so workers can select safer sites and pursue more sustainable operations while staying informed about the activities of foreign mining firms. Employing modern technologies like remote sensing to track land degradation, deforestation, alterations to waterways, and changes in water turbidity can improve monitoring and help make the sector more environmentally sustainable.

Promoting agreements beneficial for both sides

When agreements between large‑scale and artisanal‑small‑scale mining are promoted, this can help prevent violent clashes. For example, in Chile, a partnership emerged after a wage disparity was identified: large and small mines cooperated on copper production, with LSM providing benefits to ASM miners in exchange for a rent cap of five per cent of revenue. Such arrangements offer a way for big companies to earn from land that is uneconomical to exploit at small scale. Partnerships involving ASM, major mining firms, governments, international agencies and NGOs are vital because they can turn ASM into a sustainable source of income for people living in hard‑to‑reach areas.

Facilitating access to licences and markets

Acquiring a licence tends to be costly and complicated, and often, licences are only granted for one year. The right of exploitation ought to be simplified and digitised, also to have a general overview of all ASMs in an area and the total number of workers. Furthermore, in some countries, these mines are defined as non-mechanised, which means using surpassed techniques that are a threat to miners’ health and cause environmental degradation rather than following the circular economy principle. BothUganda and Tanzania have only one type of licence category, and the Ugandan licence is valid for 21 years for a small-scale permit holder. Tanzania is decentralising its mining offices. In Peru, a web application is accessible to acquire a licence via mobile phone, while Guyana is a good example of decentralised offices which are connected to the mining authority headquarters in the capital Georgetown.

At times, new ASM ventures are funded through illicit financial flows (IFF) because formal credit is hard to obtain and the activity carries high risks; such illegal financing can fuel further tensions. Addressing this requires channelling investment into sustainable ASM projects and easing access to international markets so that mining and sales occur legally. For example, in Tanzania, the World Bank and the Tanzania Development Bank  are creating a small‑business loan programme that supports holders of primary mining licences to upgrade technology, strengthen environmental safeguards and improve occupational health and safety.

In Ethiopia, miners can sell processed gold to government‑mandated cooperatives, which in turn sell to the National Bank of Ethiopia: Zimbabwe uses a comparable model routed through a commercial bank at rural level, and Cameroon operates a semi‑autonomous body that manages ASM transactions for the state. These three arrangements illustrate mechanisms that allow gemstones to be purchased in compliance with Section 1502 of the US Dodd‑Frank Act (2010), a law designed to boost accountability and transparency in financial markets.

Workers should generally be supported in gaining a better knowledge of procedures for sustainable
mining activities. Preparation of ore for removal from a gold mine in northern Sudan.
Photo: Maciek67/ shutterstock.com

Adopting a fair trade policy

Adopting a fair trade policy can also contribute to fostering workers’ wellbeing and to promoting safety standards. Aspects concerning pay include minimum standards regarding salaries, such as equal pay for men and women, defining the hours of work per day and week, and banning child labour. Digitalisation can play an important role in making information available for opening up ASMs, and a one-stop-shop approach could facilitate acquiring a licence for mining, while mobile banking could simplify financing. Incentivising ASM formalisation via an adaptive fiscal model could contribute to tackling IFF. Workers should generally be supported in gaining a better knowledge of procedures for sustainable mining activities. Miners ought to get organised in mining organisations to have their rights and interests advocated. Such organisations would promote sector development. And gender organisations could strengthen women and their work conditions.

Adopting a Fair Trade approach offers a sustainable route for bringing minerals and gemstones to international markets, but donor‑subsidised models often remain out of reach for smaller ASM operations. A viable Fair Trade strategy must be cost‑effective, lowering compliance barriers so that miners can enter the formal market; this often requires investment from LSM partners, NGOs, governments, and multilateral lenders. The key challenge is designing practical support that makes Fair Trade work in ASM contexts while reinforcing the World Bank’s three pillars: environmental stewardship, occupational health and domestic revenue mobilisation.

Alessia Corami is a researcher at Cerege – Centre de recherche et d’enseignement des géosciences de l’environnement at Aix-Marseille University/France. She received her degree in Earth Science at University of Rome La Sapienza/Italy with a thesis about archaeometry. Alessia was a visiting professor at Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen/Germany. Before joining Aix-Marseille University/Cerege, she was a visiting assistant professor at University of Louisiana at Lafayette/USA. 

Contact: alessiacorami(at)gmail.com