Women and Artisanal Mining: Gender Roles and the Road Ahead

A hot, dry wind envelopes a statuesque woman as she kneels over wind-sifted trays of tinbearing pulverized ore in Uis, Namibia. In Bolivia, a nine-year old girl scrambles down a steep pit wall yet again to refill her bucket of metal-rich sand. And yet another woman stokes the fire in her wood burning stove in the Philippines, releasing the mercury from doré in a poorly ventilated kitchen; the thick black soot coating the kitchen wall contains more than 15% mercury. Up to her knees in muddy water, a woman pans for gold to supplement the meagre family income in a Malian “orpaillage”. The faces are as varied as these scenarios but there is one commonality – artisanal mining represents an opportunity. To some, participation is driven by the allure of riches; however, for many women, artisanal mining signifies an opportunity to relieve the strains of poverty.