Perceptions of Drivers and Effects of Illegal Small-Scale Gold Mining in Ghana
by
Ahmad Tejan-Sie
Duke Global Health Institute
Duke University
Date:
Approved:
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Melissa Watt, Advisor
IE William Pan
Kearsley Stewart
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Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
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Master of Science in the Duke Global Health Institute
in the Graduate School of Duke University
2020
ProQuest Number: 27742998
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ABSTRACT
Perceptions of Drivers and Effects of Illegal Small-Scale Gold Mining in Ghana
by
Ahmad Tejan-Sie
Duke Global Health Institute
Duke University
Date:
Approved:
Melissa Watt, Advisor
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William Pan
IE Kearsley Stewart
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An abstract of a thesis submitted in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of Master of Science in the Duke Global Health Institute
in the Graduate School of Duke University
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2020
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IE
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Copyright by
Ahmad Tejan-Sie
2020
Abstract
Gold has been one of the most important minerals in human history and has played an
integral role in the economies and societies of many cultures, particularly in the West African
nation of Ghana. Artisanal small-scale gold mining, referred to locally as galamsey, has seen an
increase in activity as the price of gold has increased. While galamsey provides an important
income source for rural populations, the practice has led to substantial negative effects, including
water contamination, loss of arable land, and increased exposure to toxic chemicals such as
mercury and acid, which threatens communities’ health. The study was a qualitative research
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nested within a larger project of the impacts on galamsey on health, which included a structured
survey and health screening. A total of 268 individuals were enrolled in the quantitative portion
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of the study, while the qualitative in-depth interviews recruited twenty participants. The aim of
the study was to qualitatively examine the perceived drivers and impacts of galamsey. Interviews
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were conducted in Twi or English, transcribed and then destroyed; the content of the interviews
were analyzed in Nvivo utilizing applied thematic analysis, while descriptive statistics from the
structured survey were calculated using RStudio. The results of the study indicate that economic
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motivations are the key motivating factor in galamsey, and that is perceived effects range, from
water body pollution, harmful chemical exposure, or children choosing gold mining over school,
among others. These findings indicate that short-term harm reduction would entail education of
galamsey workers as to the best methods to protect their health and the environment, while long-
term solutions would address the lack of economic opportunity or infrastructure in areas where
galamsey is rampant.
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Contents
Abstract .........................................................................................................................................iv
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. vii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ix
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... xi
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background ................................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining ......................................................................... 3
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1.3 ASGM in Ghana ......................................................................................................... 7
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1.4 Research on ASGM .................................................................................................... 9
2. Methods .................................................................................................................................... 13
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2.1 Setting ........................................................................................................................ 13
2.2 Participants ............................................................................................................... 14
2.3 Procedures................................................................................................................. 15
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2.3.1 Structured Survey .................................................................................... 15
2.3.2 In-Depth Interview .................................................................................. 16
2.4 Measures ................................................................................................................... 18
2.4.1 Structured Survey .................................................................................... 18
2.4.2 In-Depth Interview .................................................................................. 18
2.5 Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 18
3. Results....................................................................................................................................... 20
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3.1 Drivers of Galamsey ................................................................................................ 25
3.1.1 Barriers to legal small-scale gold mining ............................................. 25
3.1.2 Availability of land, gold, labour, & machinery .................................. 28
3.1.3 Official complicity .................................................................................... 30
3.1.4 Insufficient Income .................................................................................. 31
3.1.5 Education .................................................................................................. 34
3.2 Perceived Impacts .................................................................................................... 37
3.2.1 Health ........................................................................................................ 37
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3.2.1.1 Bacterial & viral infection ....................................................... 36
3.2.1.1 Sexual health ............................................................................. 38
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3.2.1.2 Chemical exposure................................................................... 40
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3.2.1.3 Injuries & deaths ...................................................................... 43
3.2.2 Social .......................................................................................................... 46
3.2.2.1 Economic changes .................................................................... 46
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3.2.2.2 Education .................................................................................. 47
3.2.2.3 Family structure ....................................................................... 48
3.2.2.4 Criminal & illicit activity......................................................... 50
3.2.2.5 Drug & alcohol consumption ................................................. 51
3.2.2.6 Migrants in galamsey .............................................................. 52
3.2.3 Environment ............................................................................................. 57
3.2.3.1 Water pollution ........................................................................ 57
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3.2.3.2 Land degradation..................................................................... 58
3.2.3.3 Loss of food production .......................................................... 59
4. Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 61
4.1 Implications for policy and practice ...................................................................... 61
4.2 Implications for further research ........................................................................... 66
4.3 Study strengths and limitations ............................................................................. 68
5. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 70
References .................................................................................................................................... 71
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vii
List of Figures
Figure 1: Graphical interpretation of global gold prices……………………………..….…5
Figure 2: Location of research site……………………………………………………..……..14
Figure 3: Perceived drivers of galamsey…………... ……………………………………….25
Figure 4: Perceived impacts of galamsey…………... ………………………………………36
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viii
List of Tables
Table 1: Number of participants recruited from each location ………….………………..20
Table 2: Demographic characteristics of miners ………….....……………………………...20
Table 3: Socioeconomic characteristics of miners ……..…...……………………………..…21
Table 4: Income from mining and non-mining sources ..……………. …………...…….…21
Table 5: Combined yearly income from all sources among mining adults and non-
mining adults …………………………………………………………………………………...22
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ix
Acknowledgements
I would first and foremost like to thank my mentor, Dr. Melissa Watt, for her
advice and support throughout my entire time at the Duke Global Health Institute.
Without her support and guidance, the whole thesis process would have been much
more difficult. I would also like to thank Dr. William Pan and Dr. Kearsley Stewart for
their help in the process. I must also thank the phenomenal team I conducted my
research with while in Ghana, as they were of immense help.
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I would also like to thank the institutions and organizations that allowed me to
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conduct this research, namely Duke University, the Kwame Nkrumah University of
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Science & Technology, and Millennium Promise.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks to all the interview participants in Ghana, who
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allowed me the honor and privilege of hearing their voices and perspectives. I hope that
the outcome of this research centers them and will provide benefits and improvements
to their lives.
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1. Introduction
1.1 Background
The value of gold in the African continent has been established for several
millennia; research shows that the ancient Egyptians have been involved in gold mining
since at least 2000 B.C (Habashi, 2017), which was one source of its power. Centuries
later the Mali Empire amassed so much wealth from gold that one of its Emperors,
Mansa Musa, during his famous pilgrimage to Mecca, spent so much of the material that
its value declined for a generation (Last, 1982). In modern times, there remains a global
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demand for gold, and that is reflected in the modern nation states where the gold
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mining industry is active, from South American countries such as Peru (Szekely, 2020) to
countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa, to Russia. The market for gold exists on a
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truly global scale, with some estimating that the value of gold industry’s contribution to
the global economy to be as high as 171 billion USD (World Gold Council, 2018)
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It is thus clear that gold is an incredibly important mineral to several cultures,
histories, nations, and economies. Unfortunately, however, the price of extracting gold
from the Earth often comes at a significant cost to human, animal, social, and
environmental health (Basu, 2015). The gold mining process usually involves the use
and release of extremely hazardous materials, such as arsenic, lead and most notably
mercury. In addition, the process, if not conducted safely, also has the potential to
destroy large swathes of the environment, whether it is forests that help prevent
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flooding, or contamination of arable land that could otherwise be used to grow food,
thus having impacts on food production and livelihood. The multi-faceted impacts of
gold mining have been observed in multiple settings. One study conducted in North-
Western Nigeria found that the heavy metals released by gold mining in one region
contributed to neuropathological lesions in the heads of goats (Obasa, 2019); another
study conducted in the Ecuadorian Amazon (Capparelli, 2020) found that activities such
as small-scale gold mining were substantial contributors to the presence of heavy metals
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in the river, in some instances being 500 times higher than the permissible limits set by
American guidelines(U.S EPA, 2002). This poses significant health risks not only to the
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creatures and plants living in the water, but also to other beings that may consume them
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higher up the food chain, ultimately including humans.
However, not all mining is equal in its impacts, and questions remain in
particular about the impact of mining that exists outside the formal economy and policy
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regulations.
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1.2 Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining
Various forms of gold mining currently exist. Large-scale gold mining is done by
large multinational mining companies which are responsible for producing
approximately 80% of the world’s gold (World Bank, 2013), the majority of the
remaining 20% is produced via Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM). According
to the United Nations(Seccatore, 2014), ASGM is defined as “Any single mining operation
having an annual production of unprocessed materials of 50,000 metric tons or less as measured
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at the entrance of the mine”. A more recent definition from the Natural Resources Forum
(Origiliasso, 2014) defined ASGM as “intense labor activity located in remote and isolated
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sites using rudimentary techniques and low technological knowledge, low degree of
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mechanization, and low levels of environmental, health and safety awareness”. Both definitions
maintain that ASGM is relatively small in scale compared to their larger industrial
counterparts, and often happening in an informal economy and outside of regulatory
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guidelines. This definition serves to encapsulate the potential risks of ASGM, for the
practitioners and the environment at large. It must also be noted that there is often a
difference between the traditional forms of mining, which humans have done for
millennia, particularly in Ghana(Ofosu-Mensah Ababio, 2013), and which have had
negligible health and environmental effects, and what is now referred to as ASGM,
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which often combines these techniques with more modern machines and toxic
chemicals.
A study (Diringer, 2019) conducted in Madre de Dios, Peru, showed an
association between the presence of ASGM and deforestation, as well as ASGM having a
potential impact on levels of Mercury (Hg) in the rivers, increasing the risk of
bioaccumulation in fish. According to the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining,
Minerals and Sustainable Development, this form of mining is responsible for the release
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of approximately 1,400 tons of mercury into the environment every year(IGF, 2017).
Another study conducted in Busia, Uganda (Omara, 2019) found that streams near
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ASGM sites were more likely to have mercury exceeding safe US EPA levels.
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This growing body of research shows the potential harms associated with ASGM.
However, despite these risks, it is a phenomenon that is growing worldwide, largely
driven by rising gold prices. From 2002 to 2012, the price of gold has increased by more
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than 400%(Gold Price, 2020). As economies around the world remain fragile, gold is
often seen as a stabilizer (McKay, 2017), a material that retains value irrespective of an
individual country’s economic performance; this, combined with the cultural
importance of gold in many parts of the world, explains the rising gold prices. As a
result, ASGM is rising concurrently worldwide. Some estimates suggest that over 10
million individuals are involved in ASGM activities, including men, women and
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children (Seccatore, 2014). The prevailing theory is that individuals are drawn to ASGM
due to the presence of poverty within their locales. Despite the impacts that ASGM has
on community’s health and environment, it remains a source of income for poorer
people in countries around the world.
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Figure 1: Graphical interpretation of global gold prices.
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In many countries where ASGM is prevalent, governments have taken steps to
regulate or outright ban the practice, largely due to its impact on the environment. Peru,
for example, has unilaterally banned the practice (USAID, 2019), and its security forces
have been repeatedly deployed to arrest ASGM workers, often in the form of large scale
raids. Unfortunately, however, this approach carries the risk of heightening tensions
between ASGM workers and law enforcement officials. In the aftermath of these raids,
many times the workers begin carrying their own form of weaponry for self-
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defense(Reuters, 2019), which can further escalate potential conflict. In addition to the
potential for violence, other illicit industries have the potential to thrive in ASGM heavy
communities. Sex work, which often includes underaged girls, is cited as a social
consequence of ASGM; the increased income that results from ASGM ensures that its
workers have more disposable income, which, especially among men, is spent on the
services of sex workers(Kounta, 2019). In addition to the vulnerability sex workers often
experience, there is also an elevated risk of sexually transmitted infections (STD)
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acquisition, since many ASGM workers migrate from one small-scale mining site to
another, and may have multiple sexual partners, increasing the probability of STD
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transmission. In a study conducted in traditional mining sites in Mali(Kounta, 2019) the
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researchers found that sex workers in that the area around the mines were both more
likely to be HIV positive, and to engage in unsafe sexual practices at the behest of their
clients, due to economic need.
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1.3 ASGM in Ghana
Referred to as “The Gold Coast” during British colonialism, gold has played a
significant role in Ghana for centuries. The Ghana Empire, from which the modern
nation-state derives its name, amassed great power and influence in part due to its
control over trade routes that allowed for the export of gold (Encyclopedia Britannica,
2020). The Asante Kingdom (McCaskie, 2015), whose territory extended over much of
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modern Ghana, rose to prominence partly due to its same control of Sahelian gold
mines. Even now, the Asantehene (Asante King) will often make public appearances
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resplendent in gold. Gold remains a key mineral in the modern Ghanaian economy, as it
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is still one of the largest gold exporters within the African continent, whether legally or
illegally (Reuters, 2019). However, like other countries, ASGM accounts for a significant
gold production, and has been on the rise since the late 20th century, with some
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estimating that ASGM had grown by 500% from 1989 to 2002(Hilson, 2002), while other
researchers estimate that ASGM may account for as much as 23% of gold production in
Ghana(Tetteh, 2010). Illegal ASGM in Ghana is referred to by the colloquial name of
“Galamsey”, which translated literally means “to gather and sell,” and is used
exclusively within the context of illegal gold mining. For the remainder of this text,
“galamsey” will be the operative word to refer to illegal ASGM within Ghana. Galamsey
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