Contaminated Networks: Mercury Supply, Entrepreneurship, and Informal Gold Mining in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa

<p dir="ltr">How does mercury infiltrate Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) locations, polluting the ecosystem and jeopardising human well-being, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, the most impoverished region where ASGM is widespread? The existing research, primarily rooted in environmental sciences, illustrates the multidisciplinary complexity in fully grasping the breadth of artisanal mining practices and their implications for mercury contamination.</p><p dir="ltr">Through an interdisciplinary approach based on Mixed Method Grounded Theory and integrating environmental and social science perspectives, this thesis examines mercury contamination in ASGM with focus on its supply, entrepreneurship, and informal gold mining in rural Sub-Saharan Africa, using Côte d'Ivoire as a case study. Utilising a biogeochemical mercury model (GEOS-Chem) to simulate mercury emissions and atmospheric concentrations in West Africa, the significance of focusing on ASGM was established. Environmental assessments were then used to quantify mercury contamination in soil, tailings, sediments and air. The Global Production Network framework was used to delineate mercury supply flows and entrepreneurial relationships driving the mercury trade. Finally. the regulatory environment and policy initiatives such as the Minamata Convention were analysed, highlighting their limitations in addressing the ASGM mercury problem in Sub-Saharan Africa.</p><p dir="ltr">The model results showed northern Côte d'Ivoire to be a hotspot for mercury contamination in West Africa. The environmental matrices analysis revealed mercury contamination in Côte d'Ivoire's ASGM sector, with elevated mercury concentrations in soils (from surface to bottom layers), processed tailings, sediments from adjacent rivers, and air, due to open burning of mercury-gold amalgams. Interviews performed for qualitative data collection showed that despite efforts to formalise ASGM and eliminate mercury use, informality persists due to factors such as bias towards large-scale mining, bureaucracy, corruption leading to high costs of obtaining licences, and the market that represents informal ASGM for mercury use. This informality facilitates mercury proliferation in ASGM, fuelled by finance suppliers and their networks within informal mining sites. The regulations and policies analysis indicated that the failure of ASGM anti-mercury legislation is driven by: (i) administrative gaps associated with a lack of understanding of the ASM ecosystem and environmental classifications applicable to artisanal and semi-industrial authorisations by officers in charge of the instruction process; (ii) subregional definitional context miscomprehension, particularly regarding the principle of free movement of people and goods; and (iii) challenges in domesticating multilateral environmental agreements due to border porosity and the lack of proven efficiency of mercury-free technologies related to income generation necessity.</p><p dir="ltr">This thesis contributes to the methodological, technical, legal, policy and academic understanding of transboundary networks responsible for mercury supply in ASGM and associated environmental contamination. Through the elucidation of these complex dynamics, it informs more efficacious strategies for reducing mercury pollution whilst considering the socio-economic realities of ASGM communities. These endeavours constitute part of an ongoing process to achieve sustainable and inclusive ASGM practices in Sub-Saharan Africa.</p>