Côte d’Ivoire Moves to Formalize Its Vast Informal Gold Mining Sector

Sat July 12 2025

Facing significant losses from illicit gold trade and seeking to formalize a vital, yet often dangerous sector, Côte d’Ivoire has joined forces with the World Bank and the World Gold Council in an ambitious partnership to transform its small-scale mining. The agreement signed today seeks to improve safety and transparency in an industry that supports half a million livelihoods but has long struggled with poor regulation, environmental harm, and widespread smuggling.

The new initiative—the Multistakeholder Partnership for Sustainable and Responsible Small-Scale Mining (MSPI)—includes key industry players such as Endeavor Mining, Perseus Mining, and the Chamber of Mines of Côte d’Ivoire. It represents a concerted effort to shift artisanal and small-scale gold production into a regulated, traceable market.

For years, Côte d’Ivoire’s informal and unregulated gold sector has left miners and surrounding communities vulnerable to environmental degradation and social harms. In 2022 alone, an estimated 40 tons of gold — valued at more than $2 billion in 2022 prices — left the country illegally, a costly consequence of regional instability and limited enforcement capacity.

The new partnership aims to ensure gold produced by small-scale operations within Côte d’Ivoire is legally traded and traceable through the supply chain. It will improve cooperation among partners to improve mine sites, processing infrastructure, and market access. It also establishes a framework for stakeholders to strengthen governance and mitigate security risks associated with illicit gold flows. Key to that approach is fostering collaboration between large-scale industrial miners, like Endeavor Mining and Perseus Mining, and small-scale legal operators. This includes industrial operators providing training, helping small-scale miners adopt international environmental and social standards, and facilitating their access to legitimate gold trading markets.

Source: https://orissadiary.com