Illegal
mining occurs in many places in the world. Sometimes it is run by cartels or
organized crime. Sometimes, illegal mining is artisanal mining that is
supported by demand and available markets. Sometimes, it is mining scams. These
have been common in India. Illegal mining avoids government permits and
licenses. It also avoids compliance with environmental regulations and has been
associated with significant environmental degradation. Wikipedia notes that:
“On an international level, approximately 80 percent of
small-scale mining operations can be categorized as illegal.”
Small-scale
artisanal mining, though often dangerous and without labor protection, is often
tolerated, especially as a way to reduce poverty. Some of the negative effects
of illegal mining include water pollution from mine waste, deforestation, soil
erosion and degradation, effects on agriculture, and some abandoned open mining
pits hosting mosquitoes that transmit malaria. Effects on farms and farmers
included degraded land, crop destruction, and farmers dying by falling into mining
pits.
Drug cartels in Latin America
have expanded into illegal mining ventures. They have mined precious metals, which is less risky than running drugs. Child labor and forced labor, including
by trafficked children, have been utilized. I wrote about cross-border gangs recruiting migrants to steal oil in West
Texas last year.
Artisanal mining in
Sub-Saharan Africa is often tolerated, but larger-scale legal mining ventures
are replacing some of it. Government efforts, such as Ghana’s Operation
Vanguard, launched in 2017, have been restraining it as well. The artisanal
mining of cobalt in the DRC, which is dangerous and uses child labor, is often
pointed out by detractors of electric vehicles since its main use is in EV
batteries. One study found that 50% of artisanal miners in Africa are women and
10% are children.
Illegal mining in rainforests
in Latin America increases malaria and degrades tropical rainforest. Gold
mining has been found to be lucrative and less risky.
“In order to transfer illegal gold into the marketplace,
criminal actors sometimes attempt to mask its illicit origins by melting
together processed legal and illegal gold. This gold laundering task is
generally facilitated by middlemen who falsify documentation to ease the
transition into the legitimate international marketplace.”
India has been beset by
various mining scams involving “encroachment of forest areas, underpayment
of government royalties, and conflict with tribals regarding land rights.”
Nigeria has been beset by
foreign illegal miners operating in hidden places in the country to mine
precious metals. Nigeria is also well known for illegal oil theft and illegal oil refining, which includes several
disasters that killed many people.
In Ghana, widespread water
contamination by illegal mining helped to galvanize public support for
restraining the practice. However, as in other places, illegal mining has also
helped to alleviate poverty. The government has been trying to transition the illegal
miners to agricultural work. A 2016 study of illegal mining, known as galamsey in
Ghana, in the Offin shelterbelt forest reserve compared economic benefits and
social and environmental impacts. They concluded that the impacts considerably
outweighed the benefits. Highlights of the paper are shown below.
Fast forward to 2025, and
illegal mining is still considered one of Ghana’s most pressing problems, as a
commentary by Samuel Kwaku Bonsu notes. Water pollution, mass deforestation,
and mass destruction of farmland are evident impacts. He notes there have been
many fatalities as well as health hazards from the heavy use of mercury and
cyanide in gold extraction. Deaths include children falling into mining pits
and clashes between illegal miners and government forces. Bonsu pleads with
Ghanaians to avoid galamsey and with politicians to oppose it:
“Corruption and weak enforcement of mining regulations
have also enabled illegal miners to operate with impunity.”
“The problem persists partly because it is fueled by the
involvement of influential figures who profit from the destruction of our
environment and our country.”
“To the politicians, business leaders, community leaders
and financiers behind galamsey, Ghana is watching.”
“Our rivers are polluted, our forests destroyed, and our
people suffering – all because of your greed.”
International Criminal Police
Organization, or Interpol, classifies illegal mining as a type of environmental
crime, which they define as:
“illegal activities harming the environment and aimed at
benefiting certain individuals, groups or companies through the exploitation
and theft of, or trade in natural resources”
Environmental crime also includes illegal fishing and
illegal trafficking in flora, fauna, and other natural resources. As a whole, it
is now considered the third-largest category of crime globally, according to a
2022 report by Interpol. It is often coupled with corruption and money
laundering. The Environmental Security Programme (ENS) initiated Project MNYA
in 2020 to address environmental crime. It includes multi-country support for
gathering intelligence.
The top five common modus operandi identified across
Project MNYA countries were the following:
• Mining activities taking place in permitted areas
without concession / permit or in excess of concession quotas;
• Mining activities occurring in a protected area;
• Illegal forest or land clearing for mining
activities;
• Mining activities conducted by illegal workers
(and/or forced labor); and
• Mining associated with the use of illegal machinery
(illegal use of dredges)
False declarations of
origins, front companies, disguise of equipment, and the disguise of minerals
are common practices. Overlaps with drug trafficking and human trafficking are
common.
Newer technologies like
forensic lab techniques, satellite observation, drones, and coordination of
intelligence are being used to address the problem.
The UN Office on Drugs and
Crime also has a framework for addressing illegal mining and precious metals
trafficking. They differentiate illegal mining from most artisanal mining,
which they call informal mining. Regarding precious metals trafficking, they
note:
“The illicit trafficking in precious metals entails
organized criminal groups exploiting loopholes in national and international
legislation, as well as gaps and vulnerabilities in the supply chain and trade
monitoring procedures. Given that precious metals are, in most instances,
transported in an unrefined or semirefined state across the globe to
international refiners, organized criminal groups can easily move the illicit
commodity across regional and
international borders without being detected.”
Of course, there are many ways to disguise, hide, and
misrepresent unrefined ores and precious metals. They also note some financial
and governmental impacts of illegal mining, including loss of tax revenue and
undermining the rule of law, requiring government resources to counteract. Faking
and forging permits, licenses, and inspections is also common, as are tax
evasion, fraud, and corruption.
70% of the exports of the
continent of Africa as a whole are minerals, and 28% of the GDP, according to a
July 2023 article in Nation -Africa Edition by Chris Erasmus. The problem is
becoming entrenched as large corruption networks, especially in Sub-Saharan
Africa. It is not colonialists that are taking African mineral wealth, but
home-based criminal networks supported by corrupt politicians. Most of Africa’s
mineral wealth is needed elsewhere as there is no manufacturing base for using
it on the continent. Erasmus notes that much of African illegal mining is
“grey: mining where there are some legitimate agreements. This is often the
case with Russia’s Wagner Group, which has been expanding their “cash cow” of
African minerals. They and other groups often promise the locals things that
they do not deliver. But the negative environmental and social impacts are
delivered automatically. He cites an IMF report that Sub-Saharan African
countries are losing out on $450 million to $730 million of annual corporate
tax revenue. High-ranking officials in Zimbabwe have been implicated in gold
smuggling. Payment in gold is easy, as the gold can be recast, becoming
untraceable. One study found that in South Africa alone, about 30,000 illegal
miners produce about $1 billion in gold. Primary export destinations are the
UAE and Switzerland. The UAE is also involved in supporting sanctioned Russian
oil.
A February 2025 study in
Resources Policy assessed artisanal and illegal mining in Sudan, where arsenic,
mercury, and heavy metals (HM) were determined to be very dangerous. Highlights
of the study are shown below.
According to a March 2025
article by Earth.org:
“The Haryana Mines and Geology Department in India
recently launched a crackdown on illegal mining operations in the state, The
Statesman reported. The department investigated close to 4,000 sites and seized
397 vehicles used for unregulated mining projects.”
“The inspectors are dedicated to increased monitoring
with the aid of cutting-edge technology, including drones. In addition to
seizing vehicles used in the illegal operations, they are also imposing hefty
fines on the bad actors responsible for these activities. The goal of the
crackdown is to encourage responsible mining and prevent revenue loss.”
Another illegal mining
crackdown in India, as reported by the Cool Down, addressed illegal sand
mining. According to the Deccan Chronicle, the Odisha police arrested 123
individuals and seized 136 vehicles in 24 hours. Sand mining can damage river
beds, presumably from dredging the sand under rivers.
"The operation aims to dismantle the entrenched
networks of the sand mafia, whose illegal activities pose significant threats
to local resources and communities," the Deccan Chronicle reported.
"Senior police officials across various districts have been spearheading
extensive raids to curb unauthorized sand and minor mineral extraction."
The bottom line is that
significant amounts of global minerals are produced illegally, without proper
licenses, permits, and inspections. These ventures can be very dangerous to
workers, local people, and the environment. They erode government tax revenue
and use up government resources. They also support thriving networks of
corruption, fraud, and organized crime.
References:
Authorities
seize 136 vehicles worth of illegal materials in massive bust: 'The operation
aims to dismantle the entrenched networks', Leo Collis. The Cool Down. March
20, 2025. Authorities seize 136 vehicles worth
of illegal materials in massive bust: 'The operation aims to dismantle the
entrenched networks'
Drone
surveillance exposes massive illegal operation — and the perpetrators are
facing hefty consequences. Craig Gerard. March 18, 2025. Drone surveillance exposes massive
illegal operation — and the perpetrators are facing hefty consequences
Geostatistical
and geochemical assessment of illegal artisanal mining impacts in Southern
Hamisana, Sudan. Kholoud M. Abdel Maksoud, Mouataz T. Mostafa, and Sabri M.
Sabri. Resources Policy. Volume 101, February 2025, 105479. Geostatistical and geochemical
assessment of illegal artisanal mining impacts in Southern Hamisana, Sudan -
ScienceDirect
Africa’s
growing illegal mining: Financial drain and corruption threaten the continent.
Chris Erasmus Nation. July 27, 2023. Africa’s growing illegal mining:
Financial drain and corruption threaten the continent | Nation
An
analysis of illegal mining on the Offin shelterbelt forest reserve, Ghana:
Implications on community livelihood. Samuel Boadi, Collins Ayine Nsor, Osei
Owusu Antobre, and Emmanuel Acquah. Journal of Sustainable Mining. Volume 15,
Issue 3, 2016, Pages 115-119. An analysis of illegal mining on the
Offin shelterbelt forest reserve, Ghana: Implications on community livelihood -
ScienceDirect
Commentary
on Illegal Mining in Ghana. Samuel Kwaku Bonsu. Opinion. Graphic Online. March
22, 2025. Commentary on Illegal Mining in Ghana
- Graphic Online
Illegal
Mining and Associated Crimes: A Law Enforcement Perspective On One Of the Most
Lucrative Crimes. Interpol. April 2022. ILM - Illegal mining - Report.pdf
Illegal
mining. Wikipedia. Illegal mining - Wikipedia
Response
Framework on Illegal Mining and the Illicit Trafficking in Precious Metals.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. UNODC_Response_Framework_Minerals.pdf
Mining
scams in India. Wikipedia. Mining scams in
India - Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment