Gold mining, a lucrative but unpredictable deal ruining nature

It is an hour’s drive from Namayingo Town to the valley in Nakudi village, Banda Sub-county in Namayingo District where gold mining is taking place.

On the flat land, one will find huge ditches scattered all over an area measuring more than a hectare with people carrying out various activities all aimed at securing one of the most valuable minerals in the world.

In the ditches are various heaps of stones, some waiting to be broken by men and women in tattered clothes as they search for gold. Beside the heaps of stone suspected to contain gold are ponds where water is harvested and used in washing away the stone dust from the gold pieces.

Miners say to access the mineral rich area, each one has to pay at least Shs5,000 to the land owners, which is non-refundable whether you find the mineral or not.
“We started coming here (to the mining area) basing on information that the area was rich in gold. Indeed when we started mining, with the help of some people, we found the precious mineral,” narrates David Wanyama, a resident who has done the artisan mining business for the past five years.

He explains that through guess work, they identify an area and or stones which may have gold.

Process
After renting a plot, Wanyama explains the hustle they go through to get a gold piece.

“With the use of hoe, spade and other tilling machinery, we start digging downwards until we reach a soft rock we suspect to contain gold pieces. But if we reach a whitish rock/soil before getting to the softer rock, we automatically know that there is no gold in that particular area,” he says.

After getting the rocks, they are hit and broken down into more smaller particles using a hammer. Then, the miners hire the services of a grinder who is stationed in the same vicinity.

Another of the miners is Moses Friday, 42, who has more than 10 children and three wives. The resident of Sango village, Namayingo District explains: “We wash the powder with water in a basin and sieve it to filter mercury from gold. After we place what has been sieved in another container containing water and thoroughly wash it so that all gold particles can remain in water.”

He adds, “Gold always floats on water but sometimes some smaller pieces remain at the bottom of the water and here we apply mercury to collect and raise all of it on water.”
Friday says when a gold stone is got, it is measured in order to convert its weight into money.

“A point of gold is sold at Shs7,000. Ten points make a gram,” he says.

Customers, Friday says, find them at the mines.
“Sometimes they wait for us until we find the mineral.”
Gold stones are not so hard, they are easy to carry and break; an indication that there is a likelihood of gold. To grind a basin of stones, it costs Shs2,000,” says Wanyama noting that it is not certain that a miner can get gold daily.

“But there is a day you can get more money because one time I got Shs700,000. All I can say is that this business has enabled me to pay school fees for my children, construct a house and meet daily basic needs.”

To Wanyama, all is not well with this business because of the associated challenges like limited availability of water, where the water sources are very far from the gold mines.

The water is needed to wash the rock powder to be able to secure gold and for other uses such as drinking and bathing.
Wanyama adds even the available water is unsafe because many miners have suffered from water borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea as a result of drinking it.

But that is not the only challenge.
Sometimes the mines collapse thus burying miners.
For example, in 2012, six miners were buried alive as they searched for gold. This led to a ban on mining by district authorities in what they described as illegal gold mining in the area.
Wanyama also points out that the business is unpredictable causing them to invest their small money where they even do not get anything.

Environment challenges
Although gold mining attracts business to the local people, massive environmental degradation has been realised.
By digging deep in the ground, it affects the water table and rain formation which reduces water availability in the area.
Kabwango Musa, the project officer, Uganda Muslim Rural Development Association (Amurda) argues that “people have encroached on the wetlands which are water catchment areas especially at gold washing points.

This has affected water coverage in the area and since they collect water in the ditches, it has become stagnant which is a bleeding area for mosquitoes that cause malaria and also other water borne diseases”.

Rehema Aanyu, from Uganda Water and Sanitation NGO network (Uwasnet), says unregulated gold mining leads to the unsustainable use and exploitation of the environment rapidly.

“Although communities are utilising the wetlands and environment in general for economic benefit, there is a need to sustainably use the wetlands and the land in an undestructive manner. Therefore, a restoration plan has to be in place where permits to mine or use wetlands are given to people to combat climate change and environmental destruction,” Aanyu explains.

The district auto officer Joshua Wabusa observes that gold mining has brought a big challenge on water in places near mines.
“The water table is okay but the areas near mines are affected with the problem of salty water, which is caused by the minerals (gold).
This has put our peoples’ lives in danger because they abandon the would be safe water due to salt and adopt to the alternative unsafe water from dams and other open water sources which is dangerous to their lives,” Wabusa says.

Background
Gold deposits were discovered in Namayingo District in the early 2000. This attracted many new residents to the area, performing activities as: miners, washers, grinders, middlemen, buyers as well as salesmen of the hardware used in the artisanal gold mining industry, such as pick axes, shovels, pails, basins, ropes and ladders.

In 2012, six miners were buried alive as they went about digging in the deep pits in search of gold. This led to a ban on what district authorities described as illegal gold mining in the area.
In June this year, authorities in Namanyigo District banned the illegal mining of gold following a decline in the number of pupils turning up for school.

Authorities said that most children of school going age opt to forego school to ferry soil which is normally dug up to extract gold particles. Others are employed on grinding machines. Those employed earn between Shs5,000 and Shs10,000 for a day’s work.
Namayingo Resident District Commissioner, Sylvester Epira, said the decision resulted from findings by the district security committee that children of school-going age have opted to work in gold fields instead of going to school.

“Whoever wants to continue with the mining has to seek permission from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. That way they can conform to the laws of Uganda and stop recruiting young children below the age of 18 who are meant to be in school to work as casual labourers in the mines,” he said.

In March 2014, former RDC of Namayingo, Samuel Mpimbaza Hashaka, closed down four government-aided primary schools on grounds of having a high teacher student ratio.

Officials say that anyone who wants mine gold have to seek permission from the ministry of energy and mineral development but locals walk into the mining area allegedly upon tip off by friends.
However, despite the ban on illegal activity, people have continued to carry out their activities in disregard of the directives.