Behind the Glittering Allure of Ghana’s Illicit Gold-Mining Industry: Examining the Dire Repercussions of ‘Galamsey’
by Emily Georgiadis
A ‘galamsey’ worker mining for gold. (Image Credit: Kawtey, Wikimedia Commons).
Ghana stands as one of the world’s top gold producers, but beneath its shimmering wealth lies a crisis that is devastating local communities and the environment. Illegal small-scale gold mining, known as ‘galamsey,’ has exploded in recent decades, evolving from a traditional livelihood into a sprawling, well-funded industry driven by corruption and foreign interests. While galamsey offers an economic lifeline to many rural communities, providing higher-than-average wages, its long-term costs, specifically environmental devastation, health crises, and social instability, are staggering. But how do we find sustainable alternatives to such an ingrained practice that don’t come at the expense of Ghana’s future? We need to prioritise financial opportunities that support local communities conducting legal and safe mining, while preventing the environmental destruction of large-scale, industrial galamsey, ensuring that profits benefit Ghanaians rather than being funnelled away through illicit global supply chains.
The impact of galamsey on Ghana’s environment is catastrophic. Huge foreign corporations clear and annihilate vast swathes of forest to make space for expanding mining pits, destroying ecosystems and threatening biodiversity.
Water pollution is another urgent issue. While legal artisanal and small-scale mining operations utilise techniques like ‘panning’, filtering sediments through a sieve to separate gold, illegal miners often rely on mercury and cyanide to speed up the process. The use of mercury in gold-extraction contaminates rivers and groundwater, poisoning both wildlife and human populations. Mercury doesn’t just wash away—it accumulates in fish and the food chain, posing a long-term hazard. WaterAid has described the crisis as ‘ecocide,’ and it’s easy to see why: once pristine and clear water sources now run murky with toxic waste, endangering the millions who rely on them for drinking and farming. Indeed, Ghana’s state water utility recently warned that if environmental contamination continues at its current pace, the country may be forced to import fresh water by 2030.
What was once fertile farmland is rendered barren due to soil degradation, reducing agricultural productivity and forcing communities to depend even more on mining. If this cycle continues, Ghana risks losing not just its forests and water bodies but also risks plunging rural populations into even deeper economic insecurity. Ghana’s economy depends heavily on cocoa exports, ranking as the world’s third-largest exporter. However, with an estimated 100,000 acres of cocoa farms lost due to land-clearing for galamsey, equivalent to 75,000 football fields, this essential agricultural practice faces precarious risks.
The health implications are equally alarming. Mercury poisoning, a direct result of unregulated gold extraction, has devastating effects on the nervous system, with studies detailing how it leads to memory loss, tremors, and even cognitive impairments. Many miners, often unaware of the risks, handle mercury with their bare hands and inhale toxic vapours during gold processing, putting themselves at risk of long-term neurological damage. The dust and chemicals released into the air also contribute to chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma and lung infections, disproportionately affecting both workers and those living near mining sites.
Perhaps the most insidious impact is water contamination. Communities that depend on rivers for drinking water face heightened risks of gastrointestinal infections, kidney diseases, and other severe health issues. A WaterAid survey in Ghana’s Upper East Region found that while 75 percent of locals saw galamsey as a lucrative source of income, 97 percent were aware of its environmental dangers—highlighting the urgent need for alternative, safer livelihood options.
Beyond its environmental and health costs, galamsey has profound social and political repercussions. Land conflicts have escalated as communities are displaced to make way for illegal mining operations, often without any compensation or relocation support. Traditional landowners, farmers, and entire villages find themselves in legal limbo, fuelling tensions that can lead to violence and erode trust in local governance.
Working conditions in the industry are deeply concerning. Many miners endure exploitative labour, toiling for long hours in perilous, unregulated environments with little to no safety measures. Despite the severe risks, illicit mining remains the only viable livelihood for many in Ghana’s Upper West region, where over two-thirds of the local population is engaged in galamsey operations. Driven by necessity, including children, they turn to this hazardous work not by choice but by circumstance—it offers above-average wages, demands a constant influx of labour, and is steadily eroding alternative agricultural opportunities as mining pits continue to expand.
Galamsey often operates outside legal financial systems, so much of the profit flows into underground networks, funding illicit activities such as armed robbery, drug trafficking, and even local militia groups. Corrupt officials and law enforcement often turn a blind eye in exchange for bribes. The result is a destabilised economy where corruption thrives, state institutions lose legitimacy, and communities are left vulnerable to exploitation by powerful criminal syndicates.
The severity of the galamsey crisis underscores the need for urgent action. Simply cracking down on illegal mining isn’t enough—alternative financial opportunities must be developed to provide sustainable livelihoods for those who currently depend on mining. This means investing in community-led projects, diversifying local economies, and ensuring that Ghana’s gold wealth benefits its citizens rather than being funnelled offshore: approximately $2.3 billion is lost annually from Ghana’s economy through galamsey.
One possible solution is regulated small-scale mining. By formalising artisanal mining, the government could introduce safety standards, environmental regulations, and fair labour practices, reducing the worst harms of galamsey. Channelling mining revenues into infrastructure, education, and healthcare in affected communities could help wean rural populations off reliance on illegal mining over time.
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