Institutional gaps and challenges in artisanal and small-scale mining in South Africa

Ledwaba, Pontsho; Mutemeri, N.

doi:10.1016/j.resourpol.2017.11.010

Cited by 14 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Miners in this study were afraid to report incidents or seek help when things go wrong for fear of retribution from the police, in the form of arrests, fines or an end to their source of livelihoods. This echoes other work which found similar sentiments among the Zama Zama (Johnson, 2016;Ledwaba, 2018). Yet the danger remains real and ever present.…”

supporting

confidence: 87%

The Accident

Jinnah

2022

Informal Livelihoods and Governance in South Africa

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In this chapter, I use a case study of an underground accident to illustrate the pervasive forms of exclusion that the urban poor face. It follows the story of Florence, the wife of a miner who has been injured underground, and subsequently arrested, as she and others like her interface with the criminal justice and public health care sectors. Through these engagements, the chapter constructs an argument of the informalisation of governance in South Africa and its dangers.

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supporting

confidence: 87%

The Accident

Jinnah

2022

Informal Livelihoods and Governance in South Africa

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“…According to the Lehohle in 2017, the chance of staying unemployed rose to 10%, and there is no clear end in sight to this issue, because of declining economic performance. Correspondingly, as of June 1, 2017, Labour Force Survey showed an increase from 26.5% in the last quarter of 2016 to 27.7% (Ledwaba & Mutemeri, ). This was observed to be highest since 2003.…”

Section: South Africa and The Sdgsmentioning

confidence: 97%

So far so good? Tracking the poverty eradication goal of SDGs in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa

Mubecua

David

2019

Journal of Public Affairs

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This paper tracks the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals in selected countries in sub‐Saharan Africa, namely, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The study assesses economic indices such as GDP growth, employment, and poverty rate of each country to understand the present performance of these countries and the feasibility of it attaining the first goal of the Sustainable Development Goals. Considering the current economic outlook and trajectory of these countries, eradicating poverty in 2030 is highly unlikely, unless drastic measures are taken. GDP growth in Kenya is currently low, whereas the poverty and the unemployment rate are very high. Nigeria still battles with economic recovery following the recession since 2016 and a soaring poverty level. Equally, South Africa is saddled with the problem of rising poverty, unemployment, and corruption. The study recommends that cooperation between government, civil society, and the private sector needs to be drastically improved and promptly to meet the poverty eradication goal by 2030.

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“…The artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, as a whole, represents a source of livelihood for ~43 million people worldwide [2]. Although the majority of miners in the sector are involved in industrial/construction minerals such as sand and aggregates, about 15 million miners process ores that contain precious metals such as gold [3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study on the Applicability of Agitated Cyanide Leaching and Thiosulphate Leaching for Gold Extraction in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining

2022

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Mercury amalgamation is the method of choice to recover gold in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). However, despite the low cost and simplicity of this method, the use of mercury presents serious health and environmental risks, as well as low efficiency in gold extraction. This study investigates the application of cyanide and thiosulphate leaching as alternatives to mercury amalgamation. This investigation was undertaken by conducting leach experiments using cyanide at 1 g/L, 3 g/L, and 5 g/L, and ammonium thiosulphate at 0.1 M and 0.5 M, on three ore samples originating from an artisanal mining area in Zimbabwe. The operating conditions (T = 26 °C, solids loading: 30%, particle size: −300 + 150 µm) were selected to mimic as closely as possible the conditions of artisanal mining processes. It was found that cyanide leaching was the better performing technology compared to thiosulphate leaching, as it achieved gold extractions of 71.6%, 69.7%, and 67.8% for the three ore samples (Sample 1, Sample 2, and Sample 3, respectively), whereas thiosulphate leaching achieved gold extractions of 54.1%, 35.6%, and 38.0% for the three ores, respectively. Both methods outperformed mercury amalgamation, which typically achieves gold recoveries of 30%–50%. Studying the minerology of the ores, using XRF, XRD, QEMSCAN, SEM-EDS, and a diagnostic leach, revealed the presence of sulphide minerals hosting refractory gold which contributed to the low gold extractions observed. Besides achieving higher gold extraction, cyanide leaching proved to be a system that is easier to control compared to thiosulphate leaching, making it much more attractive to artisanal miners.

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Institutional gaps and challenges in artisanal and small-scale mining in South Africa

Cited by 14 publications

References 9 publications

The Accident

The Accident

So far so good? Tracking the poverty eradication goal of SDGs in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa

A Study on the Applicability of Agitated Cyanide Leaching and Thiosulphate Leaching for Gold Extraction in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining

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