Liberia: In Liberia, a Gold Boom Leads to Unregulated Mining and Ailing Rivers

Dec 22, 2022 | Varney Kamara, Mongabay
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Today, more than 1,000 gold diggers, six licensed mining concession holders, three brokers and two large-scale mining companies — S & K Mining Corporation Limited and Gbarwor Mining Cooperative Society — are tearing up forests and rivers in search of gold. Artisanal gold diggers encroach on surrounding forests in their hunt for rich mining pits, exposing communities to ecological disaster. In the heart of populated settlements, earthmoving equipment is used to dig mine pits, endangering the safety of more than 3,000 villagers. And the river the village once depended on is muddy and shows no sign of life within it.