Technologies and transformations:Traces from a collective research project

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is undergoing rapid and profound changes, moving from a predominantly manual to a more heavily mechanised form of production. The articles in this special issue collectively aim to understand these recent transformations and their impact on labour, productivity, taxation, health, and environment. They are the result of a collective research project carried out in the two largest mines of South Kivu Province by a multidisciplinary team of anthropologists, biologists, economists and medical doctors. In this introduction, we first of all present a deep reflection on the research process, including questions about power and ethics. We then reflect upon the empirical and theoretical contributions to emerge from the six papers that make up this special issue, which centre around the three major drivers of recent ASGM transformations: 1) technological innovation and adaptation, 2) capital investment and 3) socio-political reorganization. Finally, we highlight how humans and nature are transformed in the process

Formalizing artisanal and small-scale gold mining : A grand challenge of the Minamata Convention

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the world's largest source of anthropogenic mercury emissions and releases. These have devastating consequences for miners' health and the environment. Most of the >20 million ASGM miners worldwide are not officially recognized, registered, regulated, or protected by state laws. Formalization-the process of organizing, registering, and reforming ASGM-is mandated by the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Previous attempts to reduce mercury emissions from ASGM have largely failed. Our perspective argues that signatories to the Convention will only succeed in reducing ASGM mercury emissions and releases with comprehensive bottom-up formalization approaches centered around working with miners, and significant external funding from consumers, large mining corporations, and governments. The approximate global 5-year cost of this approach could be US$355 million (upper and lower estimate bounds: US$213-742 million) if scaled per country, or US$808 million (US$248 million-US$2.17 billion) if scaled per miner.Peer reviewe

Technologies and transformations : traces from a collective research project

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is undergoing rapid and profound changes, moving from a predominantly manual to a more heavily mechanised form of production. The articles in this special issue collectively aim to understand these recent transformations and their impact on labour, productivity, taxation, health, and environment. They are the result of a collective research project carried out in the two largest mines of South Kivu Province by a multidisciplinary team of anthropologists, biologists, economists and medical doctors. In this introduction, we first of all present a deep reflection on the research process, including questions about power and ethics. We then reflect upon the empirical and theoretical contributions to emerge from the six papers that make up this special issue, which centre around the three major drivers of recent ASGM transformations: 1) technological innovation and adaptation, 2) capital investment and 3) socio-political reorganization. Finally, we highlight how humans and nature are transformed in the process