Resources

Skills Building for Women in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining

IIED & IGF English

Women play a crucial role in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). While their challenges in the sector have been studied extensively, increased effort is needed to create a more widespread understanding of their importance to ASM.

Going for gold in a new partnership: Building a foundation for better gold mining in Uganda

Fairphone English

By combining their expertise in the areas of preventing child labor, improving working conditions and providing a clear path to market, Fairphone aims to work with ASM in Uganda to establish a sustainable, traceable gold supply chain that creates a better future for miners and their families.

Women in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining: Interventions for greater participation

IIED & IGF 2018 English

This case study highlights how to improve women’s participation in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), complementing the IGF’s previous report, Women in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining: Challenges and opportunities for greater participation.

Forest-Smart Mining: Artisanal & Small-Scale Mining in Forest Landscapes

World Bank 2019 English

This report reviews existing knowledge and experience around mining in forested landscapes. It focuses on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). It analyzed several active ASM mine sites as case studies to identify good and bad practices for forest-smart mining and the conditions and mechanisms that motivate these practices.

Improving Access to Formal Finance in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining

planetGOLD 2020 English

This issue brief reviews past experiences with delivering financial and allied services to the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector and examines existing barriers to attracting formal finance and investment in the sector. It concludes with recommended interventions for governments, donors and other allies to help improve ASGM’s access to formal finance in the future.

Critical solutions for ASGM: Facilitating the transition to the formal economy and better mining practices in Africa

PACT 2019 English

Assessing Drivers for “Formalization Readiness” in ASM Communities in Kenya: Understanding the Role of Cooperatives

CIRDI 2020 English

This study came at the request of the Kenyan State Department of Mining. Given the emphasis on ASM cooperatives in supporting the formalization process within national and county government policy, this study seeks to better understand what cooperatives need to successfully form, and how the government can best support cooperatives in the formalization process. 

Shifting Formalization Policies and Recentralizing power: The case of Zimbabwe's artisanal gold mining sector

Spiegel, J. Samuel 2015 English

This article examines the recentralization of power in this growing informal sector, exploring how heavy-handed implementation of national reforms contributed to livelihood insecurity. The study emphasizes how national officials invoked “formalization” rationales for mining policy shifts that obscured their underlying political and economic drivers, disempowering local district authorities and deepening the marginalization of informal livelihoods.

The Intermediaries: Traders Who Threaten the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Efforts for Conflict-Free Gold

IMPACT English

IMPACT documents how registered traders and exporters in DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda provide a sheen of legality by declaring a small percentage of their gold exports while pocketing massive profits from the illicit trade. They thwart attempts to disrupt their scheme by reconfiguring their operations across the region when necessary or by creating phantom entities.

Local Perspectives on the Formalization of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in the Madre de Dios Gold Fields, Peru

Salo, M., Hiedanpaa, J., Karlsson, T., Ávila Cárcamo, L., Kotilainen, J., Jounela, P., García Rumrrill, R. 2016 English

A growing number of governments and donors are promoting the formalization of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). They believe that doing so puts them in a better position to govern the sector, and manage the social and environmental impacts of its activities. This paper reflects critically on attempts made to formalize ASM in Madre de Dios in Peruvian Amazonia.