The work is physically demanding. The sides of the river bank are hacked out and the soil and rocks piled onto wooden bowls, which are then taken to the nearby stream to be panned.
There are about 150,000 gold panners in the country, producing 3-4 tonnes of gold annually.
The UN's Human Development Index - which ranks Madagascar at 135 out of 169 countries, based on the average life expectancy, education, and income - estimates nearly 70% of the island's 20 million people live on $1.25 a day or less.
Children can earn $14 for working a six-day week looking for gold, which is more than double what they could earn doing other menial tasks such as washing clothes.
The girls say they do the work with their parents' blessing and the proceeds are used to buy clothes and food.
There is little chance of any change in the situation until governments in the gold-mining countries back their own legislation to prevent children working in mines.
However, as the mining sector has the means and influence to protect its own interests, that it unlikely to happen any time soon.
http://news.sudanvisiondaily.com/details.html?rsnpid=215020
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