Influx of Chinese goldminers sparks tensions in Ghana

Illegal small-scale mines are an opportunity for poor Chinese immigrants – but are blamed for environmental destruction

Huang Ren Zhong's striped parasol stands out against the muddy cliff of excavated earth. The horizon is fringed with the tall trees of the Ghanaian rainforest, but for Huang, this dilapidated shelter is his only shade from the sweltering tropical sun. He and his Chinese colleagues take turns to sit under it, overseeing the digging and churning of the murky water beneath them, where they are mining a huge pit for gold. Two years ago, Huang, 40, left his tea farm in China's Guangdong province to seek riches here in west Africa. Since then his work has been hot and arduous, and at times dangerous but, by his standards, the rewards are great. Huang says he makes about 4,000 yuan – £420 – a month. His salary is paid straight to his family in China, after the money he needs to live has been deducted. "The work is difficult. [But] I came here to make money," said Huang. "In China, I was average or poor. To have the opportunity to travel abroad [and] make more money is fantastic." Huang works in one of many illegal small-scale goldmines in Ghana, Africa's second largest gold producer. Ghana's minerals commission, which provides permits for small mines, has not authorised the site. Foreigners are banned from working in Ghana's small-scale mining industry, which was formalised in the 1980s to bring much-needed income to poor, rural communities. Figures for the scale of illegal mining are non-existent because the Ghanaian authorities struggle to address the problem. But 23% of Ghana's gold production is from small-scale mining. Some estimates calculate that 95% of all small-scale mining in Ghana is illegal.

The authorities admit that the influx of Chinese miners and their wealthy backers is causing environmental destruction and social conflict on an unprecedented scale. The Chinese have invested millions of dollars in excavators and industrial equipment. "The scale [of illegal mining in Ghana] is so vast it is difficult to actually quantify," said Brigadier General Daniel Mishio, chairman of Ghana's national security commission for lands and natural resources. "Apart from the security threat that is posed by the weapons that [illegal miners] wield, we even also have issues of human security," he said. "In certain areas, people don't even get clean drinking water, and in some areas you can see that most of the forest cover has been destroyed. This poses a very big danger to our future." The work is also risky: last week 17 people were killed at a mine in Kyekyiwere in central Ghana. Mishio leads a taskforce conducting raids on illegal mines. Last month 120 Chinese miners were arrested . continued