Researcher and project partner: Melani Mennella
Gold is breaking historic price records on global markets, yet in Ghana—the largest gold producer in Africa—those who extract it often earn only cents. This contradiction lies at the heart of a system shaped by capitalist neocolonialism, where vast natural wealth benefits foreign corporations while devastating local communities.
In 2021, international mining companies exporting Ghanaian gold made $5.1 billion in profits, investing just over 0.5% back into the local economy. By 2024, Ghana’s gold exports reached $11.64 billion, nearly $5 billion of it from illegal small-scale mining known as galamsey. Almost one-third of the country’s gold is mined illegally, sustaining over 3 million people—around 9% of the population—while paying workers as little as $3–5 per week.
With few alternatives, widespread unemployment, and a high rate of poverty, people are forced into mining simply to feed their families. In response, the state increasingly relies on violence: government security forces conduct raids on illegal mines and have repeatedly used live ammunition, shooting to kill.
Gold from Ghana flows to China, India, Europe, the U.S., and the UAE, yet corruption makes its origins nearly impossible to trace. As global demand surged and gold hit a record $140,000 per kilogram in late 2025, the gap between global wealth and local exploitation only widened.
The human cost is severe. Children work alongside women in toxic conditions, handling mercury in processes the International Labour Organization deems “exceptionally dangerous.” Miners also face brutal attacks from armed guards protecting corporate concessions.
The land pays a price too: forests erased, rivers poisoned, and over 60% of water bodies contaminated. This exhibition exposes the hidden violence behind global gold—and the lives it consumes.
Partly funded by Arts Council of Northern Ireland & The National Lottery
Partly funded by Arts Council of Northern Ireland & The National Lottery
Illegal gold mine workers in a small village in central Ghana have completely abandoned farming and other forms of production. Everything now revolves around illegal gold mines, with every resident relying on galamsey for their livelihood.
Galamsey workers at the bottom of around 200 meters deep unsupported shaft.
Family members wash loads of earth at the base of an illegal small-scale mining site. The land is cleared by rented excavators that dig deep pits to expose the gold veins. Rainwater collected in shallow pools is pumped through a network of hoses to strategically placed washing stations. A management hierarchy, led by a chairman, oversees more than 75 workers, each with defined responsibilities.
A small amount of gold was extracted by a teenager who spent a full day's work in illegal mining operations. The gold is separated from crushed rocks using mercury to form an amalgam, which is then heated to evaporate the mercury and purify the gold.
Female galamsey worker at the mine site with her 3 children. She is working here carrying load of 70-80kg for 6-8 hrs everyday for around $1 to $3 per day.
5 years old boy at the illegal gold mine.
He is working many hours almost every day with his mum and 3 other siblings. Ghanaian children suffer the traumatic exploits of ASGM (artisanal small scale gold mining).
The International Labour Organization identifies the mining industry as “extremely hazardous,” and for children, the impacts are detrimental on their physiological and social health and development.
ASGM principally engages children who are paid minimally or not paid at all. ASGM is a labor extensive method which exposes children to violent explosions, rock fall, tunnel collapse and environmental contamination. Children perform low-skilled, dangerous tasks such as, shoveling, crushing, carrying and washing ore, amalgamating ore with mercury and burning the amalgam.
He is working many hours almost every day with his mum and 3 other siblings. Ghanaian children suffer the traumatic exploits of ASGM (artisanal small scale gold mining).
The International Labour Organization identifies the mining industry as “extremely hazardous,” and for children, the impacts are detrimental on their physiological and social health and development.
ASGM principally engages children who are paid minimally or not paid at all. ASGM is a labor extensive method which exposes children to violent explosions, rock fall, tunnel collapse and environmental contamination. Children perform low-skilled, dangerous tasks such as, shoveling, crushing, carrying and washing ore, amalgamating ore with mercury and burning the amalgam.
After a long day working in the extreme heat, a gold mine worker takes a bath in a muddy puddle filled with waste from gold washing stations located deep in the bush.
Gold buyer at the small village surrounded by tens of galamsey sites.
Once gold leaves illegal mines, pervasive corruption makes it impossible to trace its origin, so it quickly enters the legal market. It ends up in banks, jewellery shops, and companies manufacturing expensive branded electronic devices destined for highly developed countries.
Once gold leaves illegal mines, pervasive corruption makes it impossible to trace its origin, so it quickly enters the legal market. It ends up in banks, jewellery shops, and companies manufacturing expensive branded electronic devices destined for highly developed countries.
Plastic ring of the young boy standing in front of a gold buyer in the village surrounded by galamsey.
Street celebration after a youth council election in a village located at the largest commercial gold mine in Africa, owned by the global US corporation.
The election was won by one of the sons of the local village leader. The corporation's contracts with the Ghanaian government are kept secret, it is not known what quantities of gold leave the country and what percentage of the profit goes to the national budget. The corporation does not invest in local infrastructure and does not employ local people. To ensure community control, bribed chiefs and community leaders sit on the mine council, making it impossible to do anything to prevent the resettlement of local residents or stop pollution.
Contact with mine representatives is impossible, with corporation officials not responding to any emails or phone calls requesting a meeting and interview in the four years of working on the story.
The election was won by one of the sons of the local village leader. The corporation's contracts with the Ghanaian government are kept secret, it is not known what quantities of gold leave the country and what percentage of the profit goes to the national budget. The corporation does not invest in local infrastructure and does not employ local people. To ensure community control, bribed chiefs and community leaders sit on the mine council, making it impossible to do anything to prevent the resettlement of local residents or stop pollution.
Contact with mine representatives is impossible, with corporation officials not responding to any emails or phone calls requesting a meeting and interview in the four years of working on the story.
This is one of thousands of sites in central Ghana devastated by illegal mining. Massive deforestation and water poisoning in the rivers increase each year. Even cocoa farms, one of Ghana's most vital products, are being destroyed in the pursuit of gold.
