ARTISANAL MINING IN AFRICA
Study on ASM in Africa
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KEY DRIVERS

Financing (Investment), Exploration and Mining Technology, Mineral Processing Technology, Market Structures/Process, Industrial Linkages (Backward and Forward).

KEY CHALLENGES

Informality, Poverty (drives non miners into ASM), Lack of reliable data on ASM, Funding, Access to appropriate land, Lack of economic alternatives

KEY SOLUTIONS

Regional policy harmonization, Mining Development Funds and/or ASM Development Bank, Intermediate Technology Development oriented to ASM and R&D.

INTRODUCTION

The Africa Mining Vision (AMV) and the Action Plan for the implementation of the AMV (2012), advocate for “transparent, equitable and optimal exploitation of mineral resources to underpin broad-based sustainable growth and socio-economic development”. The vision is essentially a strategy for integrating Africa’s mining and mineral sector into its broader social and economic development processes, and in this manner, addresses the persistent poverty and lack of development. Efforts were undertaken by the African Minerals Development Centre, to review the current policies in selected African Countries in order to determine the extent to which they support the viability of the Artisanal and Small Scale Mining sector, and the extent to which the sector is gender sensitive. The resultant study, sought to guide AMDC assistance towards the ASM sector by mapping the legislative framework and identifying the needs and challenges of the governments in making the sector viable and contributor to poverty alleviation in Africa. The focus on Governments and the miners as the main players was an attempt to simplify a complex equation of multiple variables that include amongst many other stakeholders - researchers, civil society, industry and market players that stretch from local to global.

What is Artisanal Mining?

Artisanal Mining is characterised by manual labour or minimal-to-no mechanization; minimal-to-no geological knowledge; minimal-to-no start-up capital; is usually unfavourable or ‘unbankable’ due to lack of adequate specific policy and regulatory frameworks; is sometimes formal (with precarious mining passes/cards) but mostly informal; difficult to describe as organised (although sometimes organised into associations and mining in designated areas); has a complex and a disadvantageous market structure that generally gets less than half of the world market price due to interdependency with sponsors, land owners and buyers)

ARTISANAL MINING IN AFRICA

Study on ASM in Africa

Contact us

KEY DRIVERS

KEY CHALLENGES

KEY SOLUTIONS

INTRODUCTION

What is Artisanal Mining?