Rising global gold prices, now above $3,300 an ounce, are driving a surge in illegal mining across West Africa and prompting mining companies to adopt high-tech surveillance measures, including deploying drones, to protect their concessions.
At Gold Fields’ Tarkwa mine in southwestern Ghana, drones equipped with cameras are launched daily to monitor a 210 square kilometre area for unauthorised mining activity. In a recent operation, a drone led security forces to an area showing signs of illegal digging, including contaminated water and makeshift mining equipment. Authorities seized the equipment and dismantled the site.
This scenario is increasingly common across West Africa, where companies such as Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti and Nordgold are facing increasing attacks by artisanal miners, often resulting in deadly clashes. Since late 2024, around 20 illegal miners have reportedly died in clashes with security forces.
Informal mining is a lifeline for millions of people amid economic hardship and rising gold prices. According to a UN report, around 10 million people in sub-Saharan Africa depend on the unregulated mining sector. In West Africa alone, such activities account for around 30% of gold production.
Local miners like Famanson Keita in Senegal say they were promised development and jobs by industrial mining companies, but instead they have faced displacement and unstable, low-paying jobs. In return, illegal operations, often backed by local and foreign financiers including Chinese nationals, are becoming more organised and technologically advanced.
With gold prices estimated to reach $5,000 per ounce, analysts are warning of increasing violence between corporate and informal miners. Already this year, violence has been recorded at AGA’s Obuasi and Siguiri mines and Newmont’s Ahafo field.
In response, companies are lobbying governments to increase military protection. Ghana’s mining sector has called for a permanent military presence at high-risk sites, with some firms spending $500,000 a year on security measures such as drones. Authorities are also cracking down on illegal operations, arresting hundreds and seizing machinery.
To bolster the effort, Ghana’s Minerals Commission is launching an AI-powered control center to monitor drone footage and excavator activity in real time. The system will remotely disable illegally operating equipment.
“This is a battle we can win with technology,” said Sylvester Akpah, an advisor to the initiative. “But only if we are fully committed to deploying these tools.”