ILLEGAL MINING

Submitted by: Rechelle Ann Gutierrez and Edcel John Bunag

Submitted to: Mr.Christian Ubungen
 Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state
permission, in particular in absence of land rights, mining licenses,
and exploration or mineral transportation permits.Illegal mining can
be a subsistence activity, as is the case with artisanal mining, or it can
belong to large-scale organized crime, spearheaded by illegal mining
syndicates. On an international level, approximately 80 percent of
small-scale mining operations can be categorized as illegal. Despite
strategic developments towards "responsible mining," even big
companies can be involved in (partially) illegal mineral digging and
extraction, if only on the financing side..
NEGATIVE SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL
IMPACTS
 •Illegal miners present a major risk to themselves, and to the health and safety of the
employees of legal mining operations, often threatening them and their families to assist
in the crime. Many illegal miners have lost their lives in accidents, often fatally injured
in falls of ground or killed in factional rivalry.
•Illegal miners may also illegally acquire explosives, diesel, copper cables and other
equipment from mines, and make illegal electricity connections from the mine’s
electrical infrastructure. Any interruption of the mine’s electricity supply could create
significant risks to the mine’s ventilation system underground and to the ability to hoist
persons out from underground, particularly in cases of emergency.
•Illegal miners tend to use extremely environmentally unfriendly refining methods and
materials, which also put their health at grave risk.
•Illegal mining destroys the social fabric of mining communities through, among others,
bribery of workers to gain access to mines, and to secure food and other supplies; and
threats of violence against workers and management. It often gives rise to prostitution,
child labour and substance abuse. This has created a lucrative secondary informal
syndicate market supplying commodities, including food, liquor and prostitutes, among
others.
•Mining companies have to spend a significant amount of additional time and money on
security.
•Illegal mining activities threaten the viability of the mining companies’ mine closure
efforts. On the East Rand for example, a mining company has had to seal numerous shaft
entrances as much as up to four or five times at huge expense as the zama zamas would just
reopen the cement slab.
•Companies carry a significant cost for repair and ongoing maintenance, and there is
risk to local communities (especially children) and livestock, where perimeter fences are
broken by illegal miners to gain access to old mine shafts and tailings dumps.
•There is a cost to the state and mining companies to commission Mines Rescue Services
(MRS) for emergencies and sealing of voids created by illegal miners. The rescue efforts
pose a moral dilemma for MRS, as they are a purely voluntary service and their
volunteers have to risk their lives to save people who are undertaking illegal activities.
The MRS teams are a small group of people who are highly skilled and there is not a
large pool of them available in the country.
Negative effects of illegal mining on the
environment and human health
Most mining activities are extremely high-risk for not only
the environment, but also those who do the actual physical
labor.
The environmental risks of mining include:
•the formation of sinkholes
•the contamination of soil and groundwater
•loss of biodiversity
•chemical leakages
Some of these impacts have long-term consequences,
such as the contamination of soil and groundwater, that
can take years to rectify.
According to experts, it takes decades for groundwater contamination from chemical
leakages to fully remediate and often impacts local populations for generations.
In addition to environmental risks, mining activities in general are also very
dangerous to operate. Not only do miners have to sometimes travel to or live in
remote regions, they often also work in extenuating conditions.
They face health risks due to breathing toxic chemicals or absorbing them into the
skin. Miners also have to operate heavy machinery or may be exposed to flooding,
gas explosions, or cave ins.
While all of these risks exist for legal mining operations, they only increase in
likelihood for illegal projects. Not only is the environmental degradation much
worse, but the human risks are also far greater.
Illegal mining: the problem and
possible solutions

Illegal mining is dangerous work and the practice is generally associated with
lawlessness. It is standard practice for miners to spend months at a time
underground, facing a very real possibility of death. The collapsing of mines and
poisonous gasses are two of the most common threats. In 2009, at least 
82 illegal miners died from inhalation of poisonous gasses after an underground
fire started in an unused section of Harmony Gold's Eland Shaft operations in
Welkom. In 2014, 21 illegal miners had to be rescued from an abandoned mine in
Benoni, Gauteng. More recently in 2015, emergency personnel could not reach 12
illegal miners as a result of fumes from an underground explosion of a generator. 
commercial activities have ceased are common. Competing gangs tend to be
heavily armed, often leaving security helpless and police too scared to intervene.
Where private security companies do take action, it seems that they exacerbate
the lawlessness and violence in some instances, with claims of torture and
extrajudicial executions against them.  In 2014, a private security company was
allegedly responsible for the beating and killing of an illegal mine worker,
Sonwabo Gcwek, at Blyvooruitzicht gold mine. Furthermore, human rights are not
respected in these lawless zones. It is not unheard of for gangs to kidnap
members of other gangs, and to force them to work in slave-like conditions in
mine shafts.
There are no easy solutions to the problems that arise from illegal mining. Ideally,
mining companies must take responsibility to ensure proper closure and securing
of unused mines. There is the possibility of heavier penalties for mining companies
that fail secure unused or closed mines. This, however, fails to take into account
that the hiring of security and sealing of mine shafts have not always prevented
illegal mining. Moreover, the unused mine may be historic or the original mining
company may no longer exist.
An array of factors reduce the likelihood that current law enforcement
efforts will succeed in preventing illegal mining. In the face of high levels
of unemployment and ineffective mine closure, illegal miners will, in all
probability, continue to endeavour in the practice of illegal mining. It has
been suggested that a solution to illegal mining would be to legalise and
regulate artisanal mining, allowing illegal miners to obtain permits to
carry out their activities. This is the approach taken to what is referred to
as artisanal mining in many African countries, including South Africa’s
neighbour to the north, Zimbabwe. It is arguable that regulation of
artisanal mining is preferable to fruitless efforts aimed at eradicating the
practice, at least as a measure that may break the hold of organised
gangs on artisanal mining. 
Thank you and GodBless❤️