1.2 Flashcards
How big is the population in Bagega?
8000 people
What facilities do they have there?
A rural clinic, a school, a mosque and mud houses
What effect did global recession have on gold deposits?
Global recession caused the marginal gold deposits to sharply increase in value
How many miners came into Bagega and from where?
500 miners arrived from Niger and Burkina Faso
How deep in the ground is ore extracted from?
Ore is extracted from shafts 20m deep
Who owns the ore?
The ore is owned by miners.
How is ore processed and how much does it cost?
Processing ore is expensive (£18.50) – its crushed into dust, then washed to separate dust and finally mercury used to attract gold particles.
How is the gold traded between the different players?
The White Ghost (Alhaji Adamou Tsiko) negotiates contracts between miners and ore processors, and the white ghost would have a lot more knowledge on the pricing of gold etc. and can therefore exploit the miners who may think they are getting a good deal for their gold but in reality aren’t
What started happening to the children in Bagega?
Children in Bagega start having fevers, convulsions and quickly die.
What is causing these health problems?
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) link the deaths to lead poisoning: the crushed dust naturally contain lead oxides and carbonates.
What are they doing to treat these health issues?
Chelation therapy begins to treat metal poisoning but children have 700mg/deciletre (international level of concern = 10).
What is the result on mining?
Gold mining is banned in Zamfara
What is the ‘paradox’?
They have to continue to provide food for children, so have to continue mining, which is the activity that is killing the same children.
