Africa conceals extraordinary mineral riches beneath its lands. The continent is home to 40% of the world’s reserves of gold, chromium and manganese, as well as considerable deposits of diamonds, cobalt and uranium. This mineral profusion attracts both large industrial groups and illegal gold prospectors, creating a permanent tension between legal exploitation and illicit gold panning.
The hunt for illegal gold miners intensified
The operation “ Sanu“, coordinated by Interpolstruck at the heart of illegal gold mining networks in four West African countries. This initiative, deployed over several months in 2024, targetede Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea and Senegal. The police forces, mobilized on the ground, managed to arrest hundreds of people involved in clandestine gold mining.
The chemical arsenal of wild mines
The searches revealed the devastating chemical arsenal used by gold miners: cyanide, activated carbon and mercury constitute the toxic trilogy of this underground industry. Investigators also discovered stockpiles of explosives and narcotics, highlighting the extreme conditions in which these miners operate. The latter, faced with exhausting work, frequently resort to opioids to endure their grueling working conditions.
A fight for land preservation
The intervention of the authorities also made it possible to uncover parallel networks of illegal exploitation. In Gambiainvestigators discovered a clandestine sand and gravel extraction sector in the Kombo region. This activity, less known than gold panning, nevertheless seriously threatens the balance of the soil and endangers local agricultural production. These discoveries highlight the urgency of protecting African natural resources in the face of extraction practices that are as diverse as they are destructive.
