Miners in Kenya risk their lives every day to extract gold 30 meters below the Earth's surface. With the recent gold rush in the country, artisanal mining is raising concerns over negative environmental consequences and poor labor conditions.

Kakamega

In Kakamega County, Kenya, a growing number of artisanal miners are working in former British gold mines, now under Kenyan ownership. These miners, many of whom previously worked as cooks, farmers, or bricklayers, face significant health and safety risks, including lack of protective gear, exposure to hazardous chemicals like mercury, and unstable mining conditions. 

The surge in gold prices has driven more people to the mines, with over 5,000 individuals now involved in the sector. Women also play a significant role in processing the mined material. Despite the economic opportunities, the region struggles with environmental degradation and a lack of effective regulation, making it difficult to ensure safe and sustainable mining practices.

Kenyan gold miners risk health and safety in Kakamega county

A small nugget of gold. In the west of Kenya, a new generation of miners is willing to take massive risks to find them. Each morning, men from Kakamega County set out to work in artisanal mines. Before descending, the leader of this group of miners gives safety instructions. He's worried for the new recruits. They work in an old British gold mine that was abandoned after Kenya's independence. Now, a Kenyan owner has taken over operations at the site. It reaches more than 30 meters underground. You have to watch where you step. There are rocks, pipes, and electrical cables. The miners plunge into the darkness, armed only with their headlamps. They have no protective gear. They continue to walk in more than a meter of water, trying to avoid electrocution. The material we want, which we get gold from them, is this line. I don't know if you can see the line. Working is very dangerous. Like, after blasting, you get the areas, the rock is very weak. So, you see. The men dig all day without seeing a single nugget. For hours, they take shifts in the dark to fill bags with quartz, hoping to spot some gold. They have very little oxygen. Despite the risks, they don't hesitate to work in the mine. Only a few months ago, they were cooks, farmers, or bricklayers, like Dennis. When I was a bricklayer, I earned three euros a day. Here in the mine, I can earn 30 euros, or even more. A gold rush has transformed the landscape of the region. Artisanal mining is making the land more fragile. On the surface, women take up the next set of tasks. Marceline was a teacher, and Teresa, a shopkeeper. Now, they spend all day sieving out impurities from pay dirt. I am processing this soil that I have brought from the mining. The cold will remain on these rocks, because that cold is strong. If the soil is light, it moves with water. I will rinse these rocks and keep the cold. Timothy Mukoshi, the county's mining union representative, visits the site. He's supposed to officially register the workers and ensure their safety. The number of people has tripled in the mining field. There are quite a lot of issues linked to the miners. For example, the issue of environmental degradation, the issue of hazardous chemicals, e.g. mercury, and also the key issues is the lack of mining technology. Most workers are not officially registered. They sell their gold to wholesalers in the city who prefer to remain anonymous. Since the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the price of gold has skyrocketed. We do this every day. It can be 5, 10 or 20 grams. We heat it for 20 minutes, then remove it and pour it here. The gold is then sold abroad. Once melted down, it is difficult to trace its origin and determine the conditions under which it was mined. Thirty tons of gold reportedly remain in the region's subsoil, and more than 5,000 people have taken up artisanal mining here in recent years. It's an economic sector Kenya still struggles to regulate.

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