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Scores of individuals have died within the West African nation of Mali after a casual gold mine collapsed final week, the nation’s Ministry of Mines mentioned on Wednesday, highlighting the dangers that numerous artisanal miners face in one in all Africa’s largest gold-producing international locations.
It was not instantly clear what prompted the collapse final Friday or how many individuals had died on the web site about 55 miles southwest of the capital, Bamako, in keeping with a press release from the ministry. The dying toll exceeded 70 individuals, in keeping with The Related Press, and as of Wednesday, emergency providers employees had been nonetheless searching for our bodies, the ministry mentioned.
A number of West African international locations have skilled a brand new increase in casual mining, also referred to as artisanal mining, over the previous twenty years. It has supplied a livelihood to hundreds of individuals, fed trafficking routes and attracted armed teams. In northern Mali, as an illustration, Tuareg rebels and insurgents affiliated with Al Qaeda management mining websites.
In 2022, Mali produced greater than 72 metric tons of gold, which represented 1 / 4 of its nationwide price range and 75 p.c of its exporting revenues, the previous minister of mines, Lamine Seydou Traoré, mentioned final March. About six tons got here from artisanal mining.
Gold has been a major a part of Mali’s economic system for hundreds of years, since Mansa Musa, the ruler of the traditional empire of Mali, traveled to Egypt with a caravan of tens of hundreds of individuals within the 14th century, flooding native markets with a lot gold that its worth crumbled for greater than a decade, historic accounts present.
Lately, the nation has emerged as a serious hub for smuggling artisanal West African gold to the United Arab Emirates.
In an effort to assert management of the earnings comprised of mines, Mali’s military-ruled authorities adopted a mining code final summer time that gave the state and native buyers as much as a 35 p.c stake in mining initiatives — up from 20 p.c. Mali is residence to industrial mines operated by mining multinationals equivalent to Barrick Gold Company and B2Gold Company, amongst others.
In November, Mali signed a take care of Russia to construct a gold refinery in Bamako, one other signal of the rising ties between the 2 international locations. Russia has supplied helicopters and weapons to the Malian army and despatched mercenaries from Wagner to crush Islamist insurgents and insurgent teams.
Whereas Wagner operatives have sought to acquire mining concessions in alternate for his or her presence in Mali, no deal has been publicly introduced.
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