For many governments and do-good development agencies, informal mining towns are the very definition of unsustainable—dirty and disorganised, with transient populations. Most miners work clandestinely, since they do not have a legal right to dig. Working conditions are generally poor. Young men, and sometimes children, may be lowered down a flimsy mine shaft 60 metres deep on a rope. Deadly accidents are common. So is the use of mercury, a pollutant, to extract gold.
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21698262-boom-artisanal-mining-offers-lessons-development-praise-small-miners
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