TITLE:
Analysis of the Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Central Ivory Coast, West Africa
AUTHORS:
Gbele Ouattara, Gnammytchet Barthélémy Koffi, Allou Gnanzou, Kouakou Alphonse Yao
KEYWORDS:
Gold Panning, Artisanal Mining, Space and Time, Remote Sensing Imageries, Ivory Coast, West Africa
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.10 No.9,
September
28,
2022
ABSTRACT: Ivory Coast is a country rich in base metals and
precious minerals: gold, manganese,
diamond, iron, bauxite, cobalt and nickel. These natural resources are
exposed to destruction and fragmentation by mining activities. The artisanal
and small-scale exploitation of gold are increasingly practiced in our rural
areas. These activities escape often in the control and monitoring of the
mining administration. In order to better constrain these activities on the
environment, the present work used remote sensing imageries to see its
spatio-temporal impacts in the rural world in central Ivory Coast. The results
show that gold artisanal activities have been practiced since 2013 and are
experiencing an increasingly important growth. We note a devastation of forests and savannahs, a
pollution of surface water, as well as an increase in poverty in rural areas.
These activities are practiced near habited areas (villages). This creates a reduction of cultivatable soil. Remote
sensing imageries make it possible to quickly map areas at large-scale
gold mining in time and space.