At least 43 people are dead after an artisanal gold mine collapsed in the West African nation of Mali on Saturday, Reuters reported. The miners, mostly women, were searching through a pit in an abandoned industrial mine when it collapsed.
Women search through these so-called informal mines for whatever scraps of gold they can salvage for money. The practice is dangerous as these mines are unstable and risk caving in.
Despite the danger, this is a popular activity for people in poor regions to make money from finding metals in high demand. The accident Saturday happened after the pit the miners were searching through collapsed in on itself.
#Mali: Over 40 miners reported dead after an illegal mine collapsed in #Kéniéba, #Kayes region. Victims were searching for scraps of gold in open pit areas. Death toll likely to increase. pic.twitter.com/YK8BD9smgH
— Global Situational Awareness (@GlobalSituAware) February 17, 2025
The tragedy occurred in a town called Taoule Camara, which is located in the Kayes region of Mali. This area is known for its gold deposits, and motivated pickers can sift through the dirt to find scraps of precious metals to sell.
Unfortunately, the human price can often be very high. It's been known for a long time that this kind of unregulated mining can be hazardous to miners' safety and health as well as to the environment because of the methods used.
According to the World Health Organization, 54 million Africans rely on this method for their livelihood. "Small-scale gold mining is a crucial source of income for millions of Africans, but it is often dangerous, damaging, and in the worst cases, deadly, for artisanal miners,” Dr. Magaran Bagayoko, Director of Communicable Diseases Cluster in Asia, said.
Miners use mercury in the process, which is particularly dangerous to the type of people who are usually drawn to this kind of scavenging. "Exposure to elemental mercury can cause life-long disability, kidney failure and speech, sight and cognitive impairment," Dr. Bagayoko noted.
"Women, pregnant women, and children are at particular risk," the doctor added. The combination of third-world poverty and first-world demand has made mining a lucrative source of income in underdeveloped nations.
It's well established that leftist policies damage even the most economically strong nations. However, it's the poor ones that are decimated by leftists looking to virtue signal.
The dangers of informal mining pale in comparison to the dangers and exploitation from mining driven by radical environmentalism. According to a 2023 Fox News report, then-President Joe Biden's crusade for electric cars turned poor countries into open pits and children into wage slaves.
As much as 70% of the cobalt used for batteries in electric vehicles is mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo. "Biden’s renewable energy crusade exploits and enslaves thousands in poor nations like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where children as young as 4 are forced to mine cobalt," American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac said.
"The human suffering caused by mining for electric vehicle batteries and wind turbine construction is unimaginable — as is the environmental destruction caused by these mines and their toxic byproducts," Isaac added. On top of that, the people who do the mining are making a pittance for their trouble.
This tragedy is a reminder of the conditions in developing nations that put human life at risk. It's an unfortunate situation and one that should be carefully considered in global policy initiatives.
