Understanding small-scale gold mining practices: An anthropological study on technological innovation in the Vale do Rio Peixoto (Mato Grosso, Brazil)

Abstract

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Amazonian countries has undergone important technological improvements in recent decades. Nevertheless, this type of mining is largely associated with the use of rudimentary, low-tech and often manual methods, with inefficient gold recovery. This article aims at investigating how innovations and improvements in the technology used in small-scale gold mines are connected to a broader perception of the miners about the integration of more modern and effective techniques. A technographical approach enabled the understanding of mining practices as embodied cultural knowledge and to fill the information gap between the study of materials and techniques with the study of people and communities. We discuss how the technology of small-scale gold mining in the region of Peixoto de Azevedo (Mato Grosso, Brazil) has changed since the early 1980s, giving particular attention to the recent introduction of two main innovations: the mechanized exploration drill and the cyanidation process. In this region, miners are successfully organized in cooperatives efforts to mutually reinforce the integration of innovative and effective techniques. Finally, we introduce the three notions of foresight (visão), agility (agilidade) and development (desenvolvimento) that emerged during fieldwork and conceptually frame the likeliness of acceptance and promulgation of innovations in this context. Sustainable mining may only succeed if a wider vision of the future of the sector (foresight) joins public policies that facilitate the practical process of innovation during each phase of its realization (agility) in order to achieve an advanced social status of the local community (development).

Small-scale gold mining and the COVID-19 pandemic: Conflict and cooperation in the Brazilian Amazon

“…Among all these, we selected twenty-five actors with a key role in social transformation processes (therefore called “key actors”). One such process of change in the social arenas ( Ferreira, 2012 ; Calvimontes and Ferreira, 2016 ) that compose a context for ASGM in these regions, is that garimpeiros have organized themselves into cooperatives and associations to have legal access to the land for gold extraction ( Massaro and de Theije, 2018 ). Formalization entails legal, environmental, and social obstacles caused by many factors, such as garimpeiros’ lack of knowledge about mining regulations and restrictions, high mobility of people, lack of trust in the State, perceived unattractiveness of formalization, and/or the slow bureaucracy required ( de Theije, 2020 ).…”

Mining Leftovers: Making Futures on the Margins of Capitalism

“…Luciana Massaro and Marjo de Theije (2018) have shown that small‐scale miners in Brazil have innovated cleaner production methods without relying on the solutions offered by large‐scale mining. Rather than being present‐oriented, small‐scale Brazilian miners base their innovation on a clear sense of foresight, agility, and development.…”

“…In another example, small‐scale gold miners in west Africa manage to “make time” amid rapid change in extraction techniques, migrating workforces or the depletion of miners (Lanzano 2018). And as part of small‐scale gold mining and social conflict in the Amazon project (http://www.gomiam.org), many anthropologists have demonstrated the importance of a temporal dimension to understanding why mining conflicts do not turn violent (Salman and de Theije 2017), as well as the kind of innovations that help miners achieve sustainable production without the kind of solutions suggested by large‐scale companies (Massaro and de Theije 2018). James H. Smith's (2011) studies on Congolese coltan have shown that people effectively respond to temporal dispossession by socializing the coltan that is otherwise a cause of death and displacement.…”

Consequences of Mercury Used by Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Processes – A Case of River Nile State Sudan

“…The new source of revenue added to the treasury as much as the loss in the petroleum revenue (Sudanow Magazine, 2014), (African Mining Brief, 2014). Gold extraction does not require much finance or advanced technology (Massaro & Theije 2018). Therefore, it suited the unskilled workers to reap high levels of income (Betancur-corredor et al 2018).…”