Ghana river pollution: Illegal gold mining contaminating drinking water

Apparently Ghana is Africa's biggest gold producer ahead of even South Africa. That is amazing! South Africa exported 110 metric tonnes in 2022, Ghana officially exported around 90 tonnes. The implication is that illegal exports amount to more than 20 metric tonnes.

This is a problem all over the world. The gold price drives people to destroy their natural resources.


Source https://www.macrotrends.net/1333/historical-gold-prices-100-year-chart.

Here is an April 2023 UnHerd story about companies connected with Wagner group buying gold in Sudan: How Wagner plundered Sudan’s gold and this OCCRP [*check who funds them!] report Documents Reveal Wagner’s Golden Ties to Sudanese Military Companies. See Livelihoods, Power, and Choice: The Vulnerability of the Northern Rizaygat of Darfur, Sudan.

* The OCCRD are funded by, amongst others, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (UK FCDO), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Department of State, French Foreign Affairs Ministry, Denmark’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, Denmark MFA, German Marshall Fund, Soros Open Society Foundation and the Dutch Postcode Lottery.

Subscribe to Al Jazeera.

You can do things to clean this up, but it's better not to create the problems in the first place.

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