Artisanal Exploitation of Mineral Resources: Remote Sensing Observations of Environmental Consequences, Social and Ethical Aspects

The authors present the value of remote sensing techniques to complement the knowledge on artisanal mining impacts, including for detection of illegal sites, the evaluation of the degradation of soils and waters, the deforestation and the monitoring of expansion of ASGM with time. While these techniques are relevant, they sometimes are blind  to gender issues, labor relations, mobility, migration, and insecurity.