Paper short abstract:

Using ethnographic material from three artisanal gold mines in Burkina Faso, I will reflect on how oscillating dynamics of production over time (which shape the "life cycle" of the mines) articulate with short-term and long-term projects of the different actors involved in gold extraction.

Paper long abstract:

Artisanal gold mining, which has proliferated throughout West Africa - and particularly in Burkina Faso - during the last two decades as a consequence of trends in global prices, is associated with rapid migration flows and the constant relocation of mining areas. But while the complex geographies of gold extraction and the high mobility of gold diggers and traders are important elements in explaining the organization of the sector, the temporal factor accounts for much of the ephemerality of mining camps and the instability of production relationships and institutional settings.

Mining areas have a life cycle, whose phases follow recurrent patterns - but whose duration is hardly predictable. In initial phases, occasional discoveries of gold can provoke a massive immigration of miners and the establishment of a mining camp. In production peaks, formal enterprises are often involved in the commercialization of the final product and the organization of space in the mining camp (especially where processing facilities are located). These enterprises generally leave when production declines, allowing new leadership and new organizational models to emerge. All along this life cycle, various attempts at gaining control over the resource, becoming involved in the production, or imposing informal taxation on mining activities are also deployed by representatives of local residents and formal or informal powers.

Using my ethnographic material from three different mining areas in Western and South-Western Burkina Faso, I will reflect on how oscillating dynamics of production over time articulate with short-term and long-term projects of the different actors involved in artisanal gold extraction.