ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINES IN BURKINA FASO ...

- Technical difficulties to have access to expert and consulting services, to suitable equipment at a
reasonable cost (locally manufactured if possible), and to produce certain types of documents (e.g. an
environmental-impact study);
- Accounting difficulties to ensure the proper management of his project;
- Commercial difficulties to sell his production at an acceptable price; and
- Financial difficulties to produce a rigorous economic feasibility study, to find an interested banker
capable of analysing such a study, and finally to have access under acceptable conditions to a
suitable financial plan.
Table 4 – Comparative cost of exploration workings, including sampling at 1-m intervals and gold analyses
(based on BUMIGEB costs, 2003)
PROPOSALS FOR ACTION
A coherent development policy for the ASM sector requires simultaneous actions of observation and
control of this activity, and of direct assistance to the operators. It is of primary importance clearly to
dissociate these two fields of action (i.e. the “carrot” and the “stick”) in order to gain a maximum of
credibility and confidence among the miners. Each of these actions should be the responsibility of a
distinct and well-defined organization, with clear prerogatives.
Assistance for small miners might be coordinated and/or centralized within a light and mobile structure
of the Support Group for Small Miners type. This structure, consisting of a multidisciplinary team with
competence in all fields concerning small mines (legislation, techniques, accounting, funding, etc.), should
play the role of promoter, mediator, consultant and expert, proposing quality assistance to the entrepreneur
for all stages of his project (Fig. 6).
Pilot centres for experimentation and specialized technical demonstration, in particular for ore
beneficiation, could be part of the structure. Such centres, which should clearly answer the expressed needs
of operators, would have the objective of promoting innovative processes that lead to better profitability,
and which respect safety-, health- and environmental constraints. They could also serve as a setting for the
organization of regular field schools, which would train not only entrepreneurs but also government agents
involved in the ASM sector. As a priority, a pilot centre for the processing by cyanidation of waste and
tailings should be organized as soon as possible.
In partnership with concerned State organizations and services (DEMPEC, BUMIGEB, CBMP and
institutional project teams) and possibly with NGOs or specialized local organizations, the Support group
might also organize specific and repeated awareness and education actions targeted at the artisanal
community, covering workplace safety, child labour and AIDS, for instance. At the same time and with the
help of local mediators and popularizers, it might be possible to incite the artisans to formalize their activity
as well, for instance, through cooperative organizations.
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