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Dirty land mines12/20/2023 ![]() Though artisanal miners capture little of the true value of their produce, they generally earn a higher income than workers in agriculture and construction. Staggeringly, this amounts to some 15 per cent of the global mineral market – and that is worth trillions of dollars. In better times, however, estimates show that 40 per cent of all diamonds, 20 per cent of gold, 40 per cent of tin and nearly all coloured gemstones are produced artisanally. UK-based development think tank the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has indicated that employment in the mining and garment industries has been the worst hit by the global financial crisis. In Zambia, falling copper prices put a third of the country’s 30,000 artisanal miners out of work. ![]() In the Democratic Republic of Congo, where ASM contributes 70 to 80 per cent of mining exports, some 18,000 informal miners lost their jobs and livelihoods due to the recession’s impact on mineral prices. Small scale miners operating in both informal and formal economies have been hard hit by the global recession. Women account for 30 per cent of artisanal miners worldwide and 60 per cent in Africa. Artisanal and small scale miners are generally subsistence, working independently on mineral exploration, excavation, processing and trade. It is estimated that over 100 million people in over 70 countries worldwide are dependent, directly or indirectly, on ASM for their livelihoods. There is room, however, for a nuanced perspective on all this – and more, one that recognises the legitimacy of both forms of mining, and seeks to find solutions in which to bring together small-scale miners and globalised mining capital. ![]() Exploitation, environmental damage and social harm are similarly seen as part and parcel of large-scale mining. Small-scale mining is often associated with ‘blood diamonds’, ‘conflict coltan’ and ‘dirty gold’ – hand mined and sold illegally to finance conflict and war. Media and academic reports have helped entrench negative views on mining. Mining activities, both large-and small-scale, are highly emotive and the focus of endless debate.
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