The presence of potential gold deposits here was first discovered by the British colonial government in the 1920s. Then, in the late 1990s, regular visits by potential investors with big plans alerted locals to the existence of a valuable mineral in their midst, and soon Ugandans from other parts of the country were flocking to the area to start small-scale operations as illegal miners. A full-blown gold rush — with speculators buying up plots that they hoped contained gold — started about five years ago, according to veteran dealers.
It's now like a Deadwood in Africa.
In a mining camp in the village of Lujinji, prostitutes stand provocatively near the entrance of a nightclub which has rooms that stink of sweat. Gold buyers with scales and money changers line dirt pathways. Gold traders' agents sit under tarpaulins, waiting for miners to bring shiny little balls of metal that are burned to remove mercury, which attracts the gold but does not ignite.
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