Editor’s Note
This article highlights the perilous conditions faced by illegal miners in Mozambique, who endure significant risks in pursuit of precious resources. It underscores the complex socioeconomic drivers behind such dangerous, informal labor.
The work of digging for gold and gemstones is harsh and dangerous, lacking even basic protective equipment, and on top of that, it’s illegal. However, for the barefoot miners working in Mozambique’s Manica province, these risks are worth taking.
Manica province, bordering Zimbabwe to the west, attracts men risking their lives, dreaming of striking gold or gems with picks and shovels.
The miners, known as “garimpeiros,” are people gathered from across Southern Africa, including Mozambicans, Zimbabweans, and Malawians. Massada once mined 270 grams of gold in a single day, using the proceeds to renovate his house and buy a motorcycle. “That’s why I can’t leave this place.”
But this dream has a toxic side. Rivers around the mining sites are polluted, mercury seeps into the soil, creating a nightmare for farmers.
According to 2021 data from Mozambique’s National Statistics Institute (INE), the country has about 230,000 miners. Manica province has 338 small-scale mining sites, with 288 of them operational. World Bank estimates suggest that around 10 million people in rural sub-Saharan Africa are engaged in small-scale mining.
The World Gold Council (WGC) noted in a report last year that illegal gold trading from small-scale mines funds conflicts and terrorism from Ukraine to Sudan, fueling organized crime.
However, for the men toiling in the harsh conditions of Mukurumadze, this dangerous work is a lifeline for survival in one of the world’s poorest countries, though the rewards are unpredictable.
Miners can sell gold directly to buyers visiting the sites. Prices are lower compared to selling in Manica town about 10 km away, but many miners sell on-site for fear of crackdowns by authorities. The price per gram of gold is about $69 at the mine site and around $116 in Manica town.
Last year, then Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Carlos Zacarias stated, “We have to admit that many Mozambicans are making a living from (illegal) mining without following normal environmental and safety regulations.”
In June this year, a mine collapse in Manica killed at least three gold miners.
Another danger is the use of mercury, which the World Health Organization (WHO) lists as one of the top ten chemicals of public health concern. Illegal miners use mercury to extract gold particles from sand and rock, then burn off the mercury. The vaporized mercury is absorbed by plants, soil, and rivers. Mercury can damage the nervous system, kidneys, liver, and immune system, and is linked to birth defects.
According to the UN, small-scale gold mining accounts for up to 40% of global mercury emissions. A 2022 study by researchers from Mozambique’s Púnguè University found that the continuous burning of mercury in Manica is increasing soil mercury concentrations.
Mining in Mukurumadze is polluting nearby rivers, affecting communities along the banks. Environmental activist Luís Silva, who analyzed the impact of mining on other rivers in Mozambique, said illegal mining causes deforestation and pollution of rivers and soil.
Marta Almeida, who lives about 10 km from a mining site, says she used to grow vegetables using river water but can no longer do so.
According to Sibiao Kunai, chairman of the Chikambada Dam Fisheries Council, river pollution has reduced fish numbers, forcing about 50 fishermen out of business.
Yet, for people like Tempo Mukanha, who came from Malawi to Manica and has been mining for about ten years, imagining a path other than mining is difficult. Mukanha returned to Malawi in 2019, but his homeland, one of the world’s poorest countries, was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and he returned to Mozambique again.
