Resource politics and the impact of Chinese involvement in small-scale mining in Ghana

Abstract

Luning and Pijpers (2017) give a valuable analysis of the interplay between politics and geology in forms of cohabitation between international mining companies and small-scale mining operators on large-scale concessions, which reveals much about the ways in which existing power relations are challenged. 'Indepth geopolitics', inclusive of the three-dimensional perspective, is an innovative concept that highlights important components of the dynamics at work from the state to the community level, and shows how these have succeeded in some situations to push back corporate and state dominance in favour of miners from the locality. The case studies of Keegan Resources and Newmont Ghana are very instructive in pointing out the complexities and contextual nature of cohabitation arrangements between large-scale and small-scale mining operators. Factors that influence or even determine the nature of these arrangements include natural, social, political and security concerns. The article draws attention to the role of chiefs, who indeed have almost always played a part in such negotiations, even though this has not been commonly and openly acknowledged. Artisanal miners, both legal and illegal, have also learned to exploit politicians' need for votes in upcoming elections to their advantage, as the article notes. This weakens the resolve of the state to deal with the negative impact of mining, such as environmental destruction, loss of livelihood, and corruption (Crawford and Botchwey 2017). The cohabitation situation revealed in the work of Luning and Pijpers (2017) is, however, more complicated and perhaps more tenuous than they acknowledge. With reference to the negotiation by Keegan Resources with miners from the locality, one has to bear in mind that cohabitation is being sought at the expense of 'outsiders' from elsewhere within Ghana. The informal agreement, in exchange for Keegan's exclusive access to the gold outcrop that the company is targeting, precludes such 'outsiders' from operating on the Bonte site. However, given that galamsey operators typically move from site to site and seldom settle in any particular location, often travelling hundreds of miles to work in gangs, it is difficult to vouch for claims that galamsey operators are local or 'autochthonous'. In addition, the prohibition of the use of mechanized equipment on the Bonte site may not stand the test of time. Since 2009, with the involvement of Chinese miners in gold mining, which peaked in 2013, small-scale mining in Ghana has become highly mechanized, involving the use

Socio-demographic factors affecting artisanal and small-scale mining (galamsey) operations in Ghana

“…And if not for the growing illegality and massive environmental destructions associated with the operations, ASM is the exclusive right of the natives ( Akabzaa and Darimani, 2001 ; Ofosu-Mensah, 2010 ). Additionally, the position of migrants in the galamsey sector has been highlighted ( Nyame et al., 2009 ; Hilson et al., 2014 ; Antwi-Boateng and Akudugu, 2020 ), but fortunately for the Upper West Region, the devastating environmental effect of the illegal Chinese migrants including worsening social consequences in local mining communities as reported by a large body of the literature ( Hilson et al., 2014 ; Hilson, 2017 ; Botchwey and Crawford, 2018 ; Antwi-Boateng and Akudugu, 2020 ; Hausermann et al., 2020 ) were dim in this study.…”

“…It indicated that small-scale mining is exclusively preserved for citizens. Moreover, the high cost of acquiring the small-scale mining license, bureaucracy, corruption, collusion and collaboration as well as massive political interference have been highlighted as drawbacks to the majority of the local miners' inability to acquire the small-scale mining license (Kwai and Hilson, 2010;Botchwey and Crawford, 2018;Adu-Baffour et al, 2021;Gbedzi et al, 2022).…”

Climate change and oncology nursing: the African perspective

“…This has led to illegal small-scale gold mining locally referred to as ‘Galamsey’. While once conducted at a relatively small scale using manual methods, according to the literature on the topic, the rise in global gold prices starting in 2008 and new industrial-scale mining technology brought into the country by Chinese miners (beginning in 2009 and peaking in 2013) exacerbated the problem and international political and economic pressure and corruption stymied regulation [ 36 ]. Illegal mining has led to deforestation and the destruction of agricultural land since it is more profitable than traditional farming.…”

Working with legal small‐scale miners: Implications for development

“…The negative effect of ASM on land is clear: It removes topsoil and creates pits and, where remediation is inadequate, renders mining areas unsuitable for other uses. The effect of ASM on water bodies has been highly publicised, including the total shutdown of some water treatment plants (the plants were unable to cope with the poor quality intake) and a reported reduction of 50% of the volume of water available for treatment by the Ghana Water Company (Botchwey, 2018). The belief that ASM has minimal effect on forests could conceivably be due to legal SSMs not being allowed to operate in forest zones, and therefore, they believed that damage was only caused by galamsey .…”