Resources

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.

African Women in Artisanal and Small-scale Mining

African Minerals Development Centre 2015 English

This Special Report highlights the significant, yet chronically underreported major role African women play in the sector, more so in artisanal and small scale mining (ASM). In Africa, the ASM workforce comprises no less than 40-50% women; this report highlights a selection of them in Ghana, Guinea and Tanzania, and reveals the key challenges that women face in the sector and what can be done to make it more gender-responsive

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.

Gold, farms, and forests: Enforcement and alternative livelihoods are unlikely to disincentivize informal gold mining

Graham W. Prescott et al. 2020 English

This study estimates costs that enforcement imposes and the level of enforcement required to deter informal gold mining, and adds to the growing body of evidence that enforcement and alternative livelihood approaches alone are unlikely to deter informal gold mining.

Handbook: Developing National ASGM Formalization Strategies within National Action Plans

UNEP, UNITAR 2018 English

This document aims to assist countries to develop artisanal and small-scale gold mining formalization strategies as part of their National Action Plans under the Minamata Convention on Mercury. 

Access to Finance — Options for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining

Abby Efua Hilson; Gavin Hilson - for planetGOLD 2020 English

This report reviews past experiences with delivering financial and allied services to artisanal and small-scale mining and makes recommendations regarding best practices and potential ways forward in improving access to finance based on this experience.

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. 

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

PACT 2019 English

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.