Browsing by Subject "Gold mining"

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    Linkages in Ghana's gold mining industry: challenging the Enclave Thesis
    (Elsevier, 2011) Bloch, Robin; Owusu, George
    By 2009, Ghana was the second-ranked African producer after South Africa, and had become the world’s ninth largest producer of gold, at some 3.8% of global production, up from 2.6% five years earlier. Gold production volumes and revenues rose significantly over the decade from 2000. Yet gold mining tends to be perceived negatively in Ghana, and is seen as providing far less than it should in terms of public revenue, employment, skills development and spillovers, and localised economic development. Gold mining is often depicted as having an enclave status, disconnected and isolated from the rest of the economy. In contrast, the research findings here demonstrate that after a period of strong investment and growth, gold mining can no longer be viewed as an enclave activity: it is in fact more deeply linked into the Ghanaian economy than hitherto understood, through a set of as yet under-researched but promising economic linkages, notably backward linkages, which can potentially be strengthened by policy and support measures.
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    Predictors of silicosis and variation in prevalence across mines among employed gold miners in South Africa
    (2020-06-01) Knight, Dave; Ehrlich, Rodney; Cois, Annibale; Fielding, Katherine; Grant, Alison D; Churchyard, Gavin
    Background The stated intention to eliminate silicosis from the South African goldmining industry as well as current programmes to find and compensate ex-miners with silicosis require an understanding of variation in silicosis prevalence across the industry. We aimed to identify the predictors of radiological silicosis in a large sample of working miners across gold mines in South Africa. Methods Routine surveillance chest radiographs were collected from 15 goldmine “clusters” in a baseline survey undertaken in preparation for a separate tuberculosis isoniazid prophylaxis trial. All images were read for silicosis by a health professional experienced in using the International Labour Organisation (ILO) classification. Profusion thresholds of > 1/0 and > 1/1 were used. Demographic and occupational information was obtained by questionnaire. Predictors of silicosis were examined in a multivariable logistic regression model, including age, gender, racial ascription, country of origin, years since starting mine employment, mine shaft, skill category, underground work status and tuberculosis. Results The crude silicosis prevalence at ILO > 1/1 was 3.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.5–4.1%]. The range across mine shafts was 0.8–6.9%. After adjustment for covariates, the interquartile range across shafts was reduced from 2.4 to 1.2%. Black miners [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.8; 95% CI 1.1–7.2] and miners in full-time underground work (aOR 2.1; 95% CI 1.3–3.4) had substantially elevated odds of silicosis, while workers from Mozambique had lower odds (aOR 0.54; 95% CI 0.38–0.77). Silicosis odds rose sharply with both age and years since starting in the industry (p for linear trend < 0.005), with 95.5% of affected miners having > 15 years since first exposure and 2.2% < 10 years. Conclusions In surveillance of silicosis in working gold miners time since first exposure remains a powerful predictor. Age appears to be an independent predictor, while the detection of radiological silicosis in short-service miners requires attention. Public risk reporting by mines should include factors bearing on silicosis prevalence, specifically dust concentrations, with independent verification. Studies of silicosis and tuberculosis in ex-miners are needed, supported by an accessible electronic database of the relevant medical and dust exposure records of all gold miners.
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    Women artisanal miners in the Gold Mining industry of Bondo Sub-County, Western Kenya and their navigation of their productive and reproductive labour during the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020
    (2025) Yieke, Tess; Benya, Asanda
    The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions profoundly impacted Africa's artisanal mining sector, leading to operational disruptions, market closures, health issues, security concerns, and increased economic vulnerabilities. Plummeting mineral prices exacerbated challenges, deepening poverty among artisanal miners. The pandemic heightened their precarious conditions, leaving them more vulnerable to economic shocks with limited access to resources and stability. Despite extensive research on the pandemic's impact on artisanal miners, few studies examine it through a gendered lens. Gender inequalities in mineral-rich developing nations intensified during the pandemic, disproportionately affecting women. The limited literature on the subject indicates reduced working hours and income, restricted access to essential resources, heightened gender- based violence, and an increased burden of unpaid reproductive labour for women due to COVID-19 related measures. This study explored the challenges faced by women artisanal miners during the pandemic and their coping mechanisms. Ten women from Ndira Market and Ka-June mines in Bondo Sub-County, Western Kenya, were interviewed. Using the feminist economic conceptual framework, the analysis revealed productive labour challenges, such as reduced working hours and declining gold prices, and unpaid reproductive labour challenges, including increased living costs and inadequate support. Coping mechanisms involved bribery, alternative employment, seeking informal loans, prioritizing essential items, bringing children to the mines, and receiving childcare assistance from family and community members. These findings underscore a central argument within this thesis: women artisanal miners play an indispensable role in artisanal mining communities. The socio-economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic underscores their significance, highlighting their crucial contributions to sustaining the local artisanal mining industry through their mining activities, and supporting the broader artisanal mining community through their unpaid social reproductive labour within their households. Consequently, supporting and uplifting women artisanal miners can catalyse overall improvements in the industry and enhance the community's well-being.