Going for gold In Ghana

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

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Summary

Ghana is Africa's leading producer of gold. The majority of Ghana's gold mining operation is legally undertaken by national and global mining corporations but it is estimated that in recent years as much as 35% is produced by small scale miners, much of it illegally. This practice, known as galamsey, is a danger to the miners and the environment around them and it is estimated that up to 60% of Ghanaian bodies of water are polluted as a result. But when job opportunities are not as available as precious minerals, what options do locals really have?

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the sound of crowd signs.
0:02.4	We shoot a laser beam at this atom.
0:05.0	Is that a big canister of oxygen in the background?
0:07.8	Oh, there's a wasp in there.
0:09.3	Yeah. Perhaps possibly the most disgusting thing I heard this morning.
0:13.4	But it's one of the nicest fun facts you're going to hear today.
0:16.4	So here I'm actually holding a doughnut.
0:18.3	What are you going to do with that?
0:19.3	Find out more at the end of this podcast.
0:39.0	In our country was known as the Gold Coast by Zhu Peiensetles.
0:43.5	But more recently, Ghana has experienced what can best be described as a gold rush that
0:48.8	rivals the California Gold Rush of the mid 19th century.
0:53.2	And that gold rush is still taking place.
0:58.8	As the value of gold has increased over the last 20 years, so have mining operations
1:04.0	in the country, Ghana has replaced South Africa as the continent's biggest producer of
1:09.8	gold.
1:11.2	But while it might sound like gold is Ghana's savior, in reality it's fast becoming
1:16.2	its cares as more and more people grapple for the apiece of the gold pie and illegal mining
1:23.1	wreaks havoc across the country.
1:26.2	This is going for gold in Ghana on the BBC World Service.
1:31.2	I'm Justice Beidou, a journalist based in Accra.
1:41.6	I grew up in Subin Hill, a mining community in Ghana's central region.
	...

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