Today, more than 1,000 gold diggers, six licensed mining concession holders, three brokers and two large-scale mining companies -- S & K Mining Corporation Limited and Gbarwor Mining Cooperative Society -- are tearing up forests and rivers in search of gold. Artisanal gold diggers encroach on surrounding forests in their hunt for rich mining pits, exposing communities to ecological disaster. "I don't have the power to stop it"Sam Beach reflects the broader challenges facing the country's gold mining regime. Open mining pits are scattered in the forest fringing the gold camp, and exposing villagers to "boogie holes" or death traps. "The short-term solution is to push greatly for the formalization of the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector," he says.
