The African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) has sent its deepest condolences to the Government and people of the Central African Republic, and most especially to the families who have lost loved ones in the recent gold mine collapse in the country.
More than 100 miners were killed on Tuesday following the collapse of a gold-mining site in Zamboye, in the Central African Republic.
The disaster initially caused confusion over whether the mine was in CAR or Cameroon. Cameroon’s Ministry of Mines later said the collapse occurred on the CAR’s side of Zamboye. The settlement straddles the border area, with its Central African and Cameroonian sections separated by the Kadey River.
The AMSG, in a statement issued by its chairman and Nigeria’ Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, described the deaths as a profound tragedy that should trouble the conscience of our continent.
“These were not just miners, they were our brothers, fathers, uncles, sons and indeed, breadwinner,” the statement said.
“We stand in solidarity with them at this moment of grief.”
Alake however said that beyond the condolences, the tragedy must compel stakeholders in the sector to confront an uncomfortable reality: Illegal and unregulated mining is not only depriving African countries of legitimate revenues, damaging our environment and facilitating the illicit trafficking of our mineral resources. It is also putting the lives of our people at grave risk and robbing us of our virile men.
The statement reads:
“This tragedy is again, a painful reminder that behind every statistic about illegal mining are human beings—young men and women trying to earn a living, support their families and escape poverty.
“But we must note that no mineral is valuable enough to justify the loss of a human life.
“As Africans, we must therefore approach artisanal and small-scale mining with both firmness and humanity. We must enforce our laws against illegal mining and the criminal networks that exploit our people and mineral wealth, but we must equally create pathways for artisanal miners to operate legally, safely and productively.
“The African Minerals Strategy Group will continue to advocate a continental approach that strengthens regulation, improves mine-safety standards, promotes responsible formalisation of artisanal and small-scale mining, protects mining communities and ensures that Africa’s mineral wealth translates into decent livelihoods rather than preventable deaths.
“This tragedy must not become another statistic that we mourn today and forget tomorrow.
“Africa’s mineral revolution must be a revolution that values both the mineral beneath our soil and the human life above it.
“We owe the victims of Zamboye more than our condolences. We owe them action.”
