Gold Mining Africa
Africa accounts for about 30% of the gold production in the world. It’s shared among South Africa 56%, Ghana 13%, Tanzania 10% and Mali 8%.
These mining activities in Africa are being increasingly popular with Canadian companies who are really interested in the mineral explorations in the continent.
Tanzania is increasingly becoming a leading gold producer in the African continent. It’s now known to be the third largest producer in Africa as shown in the statistics above, and new laws have been designed by the government to encourage foreign investment.
Although, in the past, most of the large gold mining operations in Africa have generated profits mostly for foreign companies very little was given to local benefit. Now the governments of Africa are trying to harness more revenue for development purposes.
Economic growth rates are now beginning to boom because of gold mining. This was experienced largely during 2002 – 2007 when metal and oil prices nearly tripled. Companies of world repute were competing furiously for more new mines in order to satisfy the demand that was flowing in. Due to that fact, most of the African nations were in a bargaining position with the foreign investors, who were previously more demanding.
But now because of the economic downturn, the prices of metals and oil have fallen substantially worldwide and investors are once again undercutting the African bargaining power.
There are other issues that Africa is facing due to Gold mining. One of the major problems that they face is pollution. Sodium cyanide that is used to extract the gold is leaking into their drinking water which is causing water poisoning and is killing people, livestock and wildlife. The damage is even more during the rainy seasons when the mining wastes overflows from the dams into the nearby streams.
Further more, there are many social implications on human rights in the gold mining operations in Africa.
There are thousands of children found in small scale gold mines in Africa. They work both above ground and underground. Girls as well as boys undertake heavy work.
It is extremely dangerous work as these children risk the danger of dying from explosions, rock falls and tunnel collapse. They are particularly vulnerable to exposure to dust and chemicals as their systems are still developing. They can suffer from problems such as hearing, sight, joint disorders and their situation even jeopardizes their long term physical and mental health.
One of the main reasons for child labor is poverty in these areas. And parents have no choice but to make their children work so that they will in turn contribute to the earnings of the household coffers.
Having drawn attention by these small scale mine’s expansion programs, it has greatly increased migrant labor. One of the most troublesome results of this is prostitution, which often involves 12 years old girls to be traded in this unfortunate situation increasing the growing incidence of HIV/AIDS and other diseases which are transmitted sexually, not to mention the problems of pregnancies among teenagers and more often the obligations and burdens of single parenthood. Unfortunately this situation remains unchanged in almost all mining sites in Africa and is one reason for the spread of dreadful illnesses.
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