3.1.4 Case Study: Small-Scale Gold Mining in Ghana

This case study references the work of Crawford and Botchwey (2017), who aimed to explore how a large number of Chinese migrant miners engaged in small-scale gold mining in Ghana, even though this industry is legally reserved for Ghanaian nationals. The research is based on fieldwork conducted in Ghana and includes interviews with government representatives, local miners, and Chinese immigrants. Beginning in 2008, Chinese migrant miners started operating without legal authorization, bringing in new machinery and methods, such as river mining techniques, which greatly enhanced efficiency and increased gold output. Over time, some Ghanaians started to partner with the migrant miners, and eventually, Ghanaians independently adopted the new mining methods. The study by Crawford and Botchwey emphasizes that the state's inability to enforce regulations was not merely a matter of negligence, but rather that migrant miners were actively protected by influential individuals, including government officials, politicians, and chiefs, often in return for private payments. Although the rise in small-scale gold mining could be viewed as a beneficial result, as many stakeholders profited from it, the mining activities caused substantial environmental harm to both land and water as a result of inadequate regulations. Additionally, the illegal status of these operations led to a considerable decrease in tax revenue.