Illegal mining

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Aerial view of La Pampa gold mine's illegal expansion into Peru's Tambopata National Reserve. Illegal Mining, Peru, 2017-01-20 by Planet Labs.jpg
Aerial view of La Pampa gold mine's illegal expansion into Peru's Tambopata National Reserve.

Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission. Illegal mining is the extraction of precious metals without following the proper procedures to participate in legal mining activity. These procedures include permits and licenses for exploration of the land, mining and transportation. [1]  

Contents

Illegal mining can be a subsistence activity, as is the case with artisanal mining, or it can belong to large-scale organized crime, [2] spearheaded by illegal mining syndicates. [3] [4] On an international level, approximately 80 percent of small-scale mining operations can be categorized as illegal. [5] Despite strategic developments towards "responsible mining," even big companies can be involved in illegal mineral digging and extraction, if only on the financing side. [6]

Large-scale mining operations are owned by large companies nationally and use advanced technology to extract metals; these operations use open-pit mining. [7]  Artisanal small-scale mining operations are labour-intensive mining because miners do not use machinery to extract the metals. [7]  Informal mining occurs when artisanal small-scale mining operations proceed in mining activity without the proper legal licenses.

These operations are still illegal but it is not an indictable offence such as illegal mining operations organized by criminal groups. [7]  Organized crime groups lead and control illegal mining activity in extremely rural areas where the state does not have full jurisdiction over the land. [1]  Criminally organized illegal mining controls large-scale operations that violate all the laws and environment while mining. [7]  Corruption in privately owned large-scale mining and artisanal small-scale mining operations occurs because the operations delegate their power to local authorities. [1]  The lack of coordination allows loopholes for corruption. The laws and procedures surrounding mining lessen the impact on the environment and are violated by large and artisanal small-scaling contributing to environmental damage. [1]

Environmental impacts

Abandoned surface illegal mining shaft "Surface illegal mining shaft" by Siphetha is licensed under CC BY-SA 4 Surface illegal mining shaft.jpg
Abandoned surface illegal mining shaft "Surface illegal mining shaft" by Siphetha is licensed under CC BY-SA 4

Illegal miners generally lack knowledge and simply do not care about the environment they are mining which causes the environment to be complete destroyed by the illegal activity. Certified mining causes less of a threat and destruction to the environment than illegal mining because of the guidelines they are required to follow to be perverse the environment while extracting resources. Illegal miners create large mining pits that are not back filled when they are finished, many people and animals die from these pits. [8] Due to run off from illegal mining activity contaminates surface water and underground water with mud, mercury and cyanide. This pollution creates a crisis because this is used for drinking and farmland. [8] There are many different ways that illegal mining destructs ecosystems. [9]

Water pollution

Illegal gold mining operations used heavy metals such as mercury and cyanide to extract gold from waste material. The mercury and cyanide leach into the natural environment causing pollution. [10]  Illegal miners often dump excess mercury into the nearby waterways for disposal. [8]  Water pollution affects surrounding communities, aquatic ecosystems and land ecosystems due to the hydraulic cycle. [11] The polluted water is used for irrigation of farmland and community use, this further spreads pollution which leads to illness and death. [10]

Illegal gold artisanal small-scale mining in Nigeria "Illegal Gold mining Nigeria1" by Dame Yinka is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Illegal Gold mining Nigeria1.jpg
Illegal gold artisanal small-scale mining in Nigeria "Illegal Gold mining Nigeria1" by Dame Yinka is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Deforestation

Deforestation occurs during illegal mining operations so mining operations have room to function. As forests are clear-cut and the ground is mined, ecosystems collapse due to habitat loss. [12]  Carbon emissions increase drastically due to the clearcutting of forests in regions where illegal mining occurs. [12] Deforestation contributes to soil erosion since the roots of trees provide the soil with stability. [13]  There have been many efforts to protect and rehabilitate forest ecosystems in recent years to prevent and limit the effects of deforestation. [14]

Soil erosion and degradation

Illegal mining causes soil erosion and degradation which leads to barren lands where nothing can survive. Soil erosion reduces soil fertility which affects agricultural lands. [15] Soil degradation occurs (1) when removing topsoil affects the fertility of the soil and decreases the chance of restoring vegetation. [12] (2) When toxic chemicals pollute soil to an extent where plants cannot grow. The toxins deplete the soil's nutrients and inhibit vegetation. [12]  (3) When large amounts of mining waste such as rock, sediment and soil that lacks nutrients are dumped onto the land it stops the growth of plants. [12] This waste engulfs topsoil taking away fertility. [12] Poorly contained mining tails are hazardous to the environment because there are no efforts to treat the soil to get rid of toxic chemicals. Soil erosion leads to natural hazards such as landslides due to loose soil and flooding. [12]

Social impacts

Crime

Latin America is the centre of the global drug trade since that’s where most drugs are produced. Organized crime groups such as drug cartels realized the profitability and began to illegally mine precious metals. [7]  These groups were able to get control of large amounts of land away from government surveillance. This allowed the cartels to earn a larger profit than the drug trade with lower risk. [7] Illegal mining operations controlled by organized crime groups are hazardous to the miners but many are drawn to the work due to the effect it has on the surrounding environment. [7]  Child labour is very common in the mines because children are trafficked and forced into work. Adults are also exploited, trafficked and forced into unsafe labour conditions. [7]

Farming

Illegal mining operations affect surrounding agriculture. Cocoa farming in Ghana is impacted by illegal mining activity because of land degradation and availability. [16] There is less available land for farming causing competition and higher costs for farmers. The illegal miners trespass through farmland to construct roads through farms destroying the cocoa trees in the process. [16] They also mine on the farmland which is where many farmers die because of falling into the pits. [11] Illegal mining operations cause flooding with polluted water that affects the maturation of the cocoa pods. [16]  Flooding depletes soil fertility, increases erosion and affects the farmer's ability to grow cocoas trees. These factors contribute to farmers’ fear of losing their livelihood due to the losses that are caused by illegal mining. [16]

Malaria

Abandoned open-pit mines cause an increase in the mosquito population which can increase the spread of malaria. [17] These pits fill up with stagnant or slow-moving bodies of water where mosquitoes can breed and their larvae can grow. [17] Due to the increase in population, mosquitoes have a greater risk of carrying malaria. [17] When illegal mining operations abandon their pits, there is no way for local authorities to track and prevent the open pits to decrease the spread. [17] Illegal miners also do not take proper precautions to protect themselves when mining and it increases the risk of transmission. [17]

Regional issues

Sub-Saharan Africa

Spurred by widespread poverty and a lack of alternative income-earning opportunities, illegal artisanal mining is a well-documented phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa. While legalization opportunities for artisanal and small scale mining are often available, inefficient government bureaucracy structures can make noncompliance more appealing for workers. In addition, in an effort to attract foreign investment, many governments in sub-Saharan Africa have loosened national mining investment codes. An expansion of the large-scale mining projects fuelled by foreign investment has displaced rural mining communities, many of which revert to illegal mining on concessions given to the formal mining sector. [18] As a response measure, Ghana for instance launched Operation Vanguard in 2017 to restrain illegal artisanal mining in Ghana.

Latin America

Latin America is home to the Amazon rainforest which has many ecosystems living within the rainforest. [19] Illegal mining causes the deforestation of a protected rainforest. The use of mercury in illegal mining is contaminating the soil, water and air harming surrounding communities and the wildlife living in the forest. [19] In Latin America, the illegal mining population is more likely to be infected with malaria since they are more vulnerable when they are ming deep in the rainforest. [19]

Illegal mining operations are often located in remote areas, making it more difficult to enforce mining standards. Furthermore, mining requirements can vary substantially from region to region, further complicating adherence with labor laws, environmental regulations, and tax legislation. [4] Emissions of mercury originating in artisanal mining, most of which is unregulated and illegal, are substantial, contributing to 37 percent of the atmospheric mercury emitted annually. [3]

While drug trafficking has historically been a prominent criminal enterprise, lower risks associated with illegal mining have propelled a shift toward lucrative illegal gold mining operations. In order to transfer illegal gold into the marketplace, criminal actors sometimes attempt to mask its illicit origins by melting together processed legal and illegal gold. This gold laundering task is generally facilitated by middlemen who falsify documentation to ease the transition into the legitimate international marketplace. [4]

India

Mining scams in India (colloquially Indian mining scam) refers to a series of alleged widespread scams in various ore-rich states of India, which has generated controversy. Such issues span encroachment of forest areas, underpayment of government royalties, and conflict with tribals regarding land rights. [20] The spill-over of the effects of legal mining into issues such as Naxalism and the distortion of the Indian political system by mixed politics and mining interests, has gained international attention. [21] [22]

The latest scam that has come out is the coal mining scam in which the government has had a presumable conservative loss of Rs 1.86 trillion (short scale), due to the delayed implementation of a competitive bidding process for allotment of coal blocks, says the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

Nigeria

The Nigerian government does not have the funds needed to enforce the law that prohibits illegal mining. [23] They do not have the capacity and authority for the full enforcement of the law.  Government funds are affected by illegal mining operations because they cannot profit from the extraction of metals. [23] Nigeria is rich in precious metals which causes foreign illegal mining operations to come to Nigeria. [23] This causes violence and conflict between the local and foreign illegal miners in some parts of Nigeria. The vastness of Nigeria causes remote places where illegal mining operations can occur without the government having any knowledge of it. [23]

Ghana

In Ghana, the government has put together a task force that was created to remove all illegal mining operations due to the environmental problems it has caused. [24] The environmental and water quality deterioration caused the President of Ghana to make a press release to explain the urgency and need for public support to aid in fixing the problem. [24]

Illegal mining operations in Ghana have contributed to the reduction of poverty. Illegal mining is an employment option for men and women with no education and it is an easy way to make quick money. [24] The government is offering alternative sources of income in the agricultural field. [24] Illegal miners will continue to make money once their mine is shut down or change jobs to work an agricultural job that is much safer and legal. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bauxite</span> Sedimentary rock rich in aluminium

Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite, boehmite and diaspore, mixed with the two iron oxides goethite and haematite, the aluminium clay mineral kaolinite and small amounts of anatase and ilmenite . Bauxite appears dull in luster and is reddish-brown, white, or tan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining</span> Extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth

Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, chalk, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. The ore must be a rock or mineral that contains valuable constituent, can be extracted or mined and sold for profit. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coltan</span> Tantalum-niobium ore

Coltan is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite, and the tantalum-dominant mineral is tantalite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbite</span> Mineral group

Columbite, also called niobite, niobite-tantalite and columbate, with a general chemical formula of (FeII,MnII)Nb2O6, is a black mineral group that is an ore of niobium. It has a submetallic luster, a high density, and is a niobate of iron and manganese. Niobite has many applications in areospace, construction and the medical industry. Dating columbite minerals is primarily completed by uranium lead (U-Pb) dating, a slow process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Resource depletion</span> Depletion of natural organic and inorganic resources

Resource depletion is the consumption of a resource faster than it can be replenished. Natural resources are commonly divided between renewable resources and non-renewable resources. The use of either of these forms of resources beyond their rate of replacement is considered to be resource depletion. The value of a resource is a direct result of its availability in nature and the cost of extracting the resource. The more a resource is depleted the more the value of the resource increases. There are several types of resource depletion, including but not limited to: mining for fossil fuels and minerals, deforestation, pollution or contamination of resources, wetland and ecosystem degradation, soil erosion, overconsumption, aquifer depletion, and the excessive or unnecessary use of resources. Resource depletion is most commonly used in reference to farming, fishing, mining, water usage, and the consumption of fossil fuels. Depletion of wildlife populations is called defaunation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open-pit mining</span> Surface mining technique

Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exploitation of natural resources</span> Use of natural resources for economic growth

The exploitation of natural resources describes using natural resources, often non-renewable or limited, for economic growth or development. Environmental degradation, human insecurity, and social conflict frequently accompany natural resource exploitation. The impacts of the depletion of natural resources include the decline of economic growth in local areas; however, the abundance of natural resources does not always correlate with a country's material prosperity. Many resource-rich countries, especially in the Global South, face distributional conflicts, where local bureaucracies mismanage or disagree on how resources should be used. Foreign industries also contribute to resource exploitation, where raw materials are outsourced from developing countries, with the local communities receiving little profit from the exchange. This is often accompanied by negative effects of economic growth around the affected areas such as inequality and pollution

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold mining</span> Process of extracting gold from the ground

Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galamsey</span> Ghanaian term for illegal mining

Galamsey refers to illegal small-scale gold mining in Ghana. The term is derived from the phrase "gather them and sell". Those involved in this practice are called galamseyers, and in neighbouring Francophone countries such as Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, they are often referred to as orpailleurs. The practice is also referred to as illegal artisanal small-scale mining (ASM). Ghana's widespread illegal mining activities have caused extensive destructing to the gold-rich West African country's forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental issues in Colombia</span>

Environmentally, Colombia is a mega-diverse country from its natural land terrain to its biological wildlife. Its biodiversity is a result of its geographical location and elevation. It is the fourth largest South American country and only country in South America to have coasts on the Pacific and Caribbean Sea. Colombia's terrain can be divided into six main natural zones: The Caribbean, the Pacific, The Orinoco region, The Amazonia region, the Andean region, and the Insular region. 52.2% of the environment is predominately the Andes, Amazon, and Pacific Basins, followed by the Orinoco basin 13.9%, the Andes and the Caribbean. The Tropical Andes, Choco, and the Caribbean are considered biodiversity hotspots which puts these areas at high risk of concentration of colonizing activities. Colombia host over 1800 bird species and at least one new species are detected every year. Decades of civil war and political unrest have impeded biological and environmental research in Colombia. The political unrest in Colombia catalyzes the alteration of land patterns through the cultivation of coca and opium crops, the redirection of extractive activities, and land abandonment in some areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

The mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo produces copper, diamonds, tantalum, tin, gold, and more than 70% of global cobalt production. Minerals and petroleum are central to the DRC's economy, making up more than 95% of the value of its exports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining industry of Ghana</span>

The Mining industry of Ghana accounts for 5% of the country's GDP and minerals make up 37% of total exports. Gold contributes over 90% of the total mineral exports. Thus, the main focus of Ghana's mining and minerals development industry remains focused on gold. Ghana is Africa's largest gold producer, producing 80.5 t in 2008. Ghana is also a major producer of bauxite, manganese and diamonds. Ghana has 20 large-scale mining companies producing gold, diamonds, bauxite and manganese; over 300 registered small scale mining groups; and 90 mine support service companies. Other mineral commodities produced in the country are natural gas, petroleum, salt, and silver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kahayan River</span> River in Indonesia

The Kahayan River, or Great Dayak River, is the second largest river after the Barito River in Central Kalimantan, a province of Indonesia in Kalimantan – the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. With a total length of 658 km (409 mi) and with a drainage basin of 15,500 km2 (6,000 sq mi) in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Mean annual discharge 1,178 m3/s (41,600 cu ft/s). The provincial capital Palangkaraya lies on the river. The main inhabitants are Dayaks, who practice slash-and-burn rice cultivation and pan for gold on the upper reaches. The lower Kayahan flows through a rich and unusual environment of peat swamp forests, which has been severely degraded by an unsuccessful program to convert a large part of the area into rice paddies, compounded by legal and illegal forestry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impact of mining</span> Environmental problems from uncontrolled mining

Environmental impact of mining can occur at local, regional, and global scales through direct and indirect mining practices. Mining can cause erosion, sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, or the contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water by chemicals emitted from mining processes. These processes also affect the atmosphere through carbon emissions which contributes to climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artisanal mining</span> Independent, small-scale, subsistence mining

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a blanket term for a type of subsistence mining involving a miner who may or may not be officially employed by a mining company but works independently, mining minerals using their own resources, usually by hand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocoa production in Ghana</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold mining in Brazil</span>

Gold mining in Brazil has taken place continually in the Amazon since the 1690s, and has been important to the economies of Brazil and surrounding countries. In the late 17th century, amid the search for indigenous people to use in the slave trade, Portuguese colonists began to recognize the abundance of gold in the Amazon, triggering what would become the longest gold rush in history. As a consequence, the area was flooded with prospectors from around the globe. Because of an already profitable agricultural operation taking place in the east, many Brazilians have been sent into the jungle as part of several agricultural reform programs. The methods and practices have changed in the following centuries and the work is often dangerous and detrimental to the surrounding ecosystems. Because artisanal mining is prohibited under federal law, the methods employed are often crude and unregulated, resulting in polluted water and massive deforestation.

Operation Vanguard is a military police joint task force (JTF) set up by the President of Ghana in 2017 to combat illegal mining, known as galamsey. Over the years, the practice has depleted Ghana's forest cover and polluted bodies of water due to the crude and unregulated nature of the mining process.

Jerome Okon Nriagu is a Nigerian-born, American environmental chemist, academician and researcher. He is Professor Emeritus in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. He was formerly a Research Scientist at Environment Canada in the former National Water Research Institute, Burlington, Ontario, and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo, Canada.

The Niger gold mine collapse occurred on 7 November 2021 when a manually dug well collapsed at the Garin-Liman mining area of Maradi region, Niger. The day of the mine disaster left 18 people dead on the spot, 7 injured and hospitalised, and dozens of miners buried underground waiting to be rescued. However, equipment limitations have slowed the rescue process. On 9 November 2021, two days after the mine disaster, rescuers found more bodies in the collapsed mine. Eventually, the number of people killed in the accident rose to 32. Since the incident took place on the border between Niger and Nigeria, a large number of Nigerians work in the area. According to reports, among the victims, 13 were Nigerians.

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