Opinion
Opinion
Gold mining in DRC , from the ore to the bar
For the people in the eastern DRC , small-scale gold mining is a key source of income . �e workers risk their lives digging for the ore , which passes through many hands before it becomes a gleaming bar of pure gold .
Back-breaking work Deep down , a miner in a rural artisanal gold mine chisels gold ore out of the earth . �e sha� team is composed mainly of excavators and bag porters . Miners spend six to eight hours down the sha�s each day . �e work is physically demanding . At this mine , around 200 kilograms of ore must be excavated to extract one gram of gold
Sacks of rocks for a gram of gold A miner maneuvers through a narrow tunnel junction , as his colleague waits in line . �e bags of ore he has been heaving through the mine , in the direction of the minesha� entrance , are in front of him . A�er agriculture , artisanal mining is the most important livelihood in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ).
30 kilos per load A bag porter carries his load downhill from the mine for processing . �e porters are paid 500 Congolese Francs - about $ 0.35 ( 0.29 Euros ) at current Eastern Congo exchange rates - per bag by the sha� managers , and can make up to several dollars per day . �ey are among the lowest earners at the mine and , at this site , are o�en those who have migrated from other areas .
Encased in the rock A man kneels in front of a rock slab while breaking down gold ore with a grinding stone . Next , the remaining ore is manually ground down between two rocks to release the gold . �is is a slow and arduous process ; one plastic basin can take several hours to work through . Water carriers and ore porters are visible moving up and down the mine hill , in the background . Valuable mud A man pours ore onto a sluice . �e ne ore purchased by specialist sluice teams is mixed with water and poured onto sluices . Due again to its high density , the remaining gold sediment sticks to the sluice blanket while the excess ows downhill . �e sediment is then gathered and sieved in a plastic basin using mercury . First sales A local on-site trader assesses how much to offer for the gold a client has brought him . �e gold and mercury compound seen in the trader ' s plastic dish is a dull metallic grey at this point in the treatment process . Many miners will look to sell these small gold quantities to on-site traders . Re ning gold A ' big trader ' heats the gold and nitric acid over a hot stove to rid it of any remaining impurities . Big traders deal in far larger quantities of gold than the local traders ; they frequently trade more than several kilograms of gold in one week . �eir pro t margins are smaller than the local traders , but they trade in greater volume , which assures them a much higher income . Precious powder A�er heating , the gold is weighed on an
Page22 | Sep - Oct 2017 | FMDZ