My original idea was to investigate the mining industry in Tanzania because there were international initiatives whose goal it was to certify sustainably produced gold. When I first travelled to Tanzania in the Autumn of 2018, however, I found nothing of the sort. My current subject of investigation is small-scale mining operations where gold is mined as it always was – with the use of large amounts of quicksilver, as this is the cheapest way to process gold. The gold prospectors know that this is bad for their health, but they have to feed their families. So I decided to concentrate on a new question: how can we enable miners to make a sustainable living?

In Tanzania, an estimated 500,000 to 1.5 million people work in these small mines, which are informally, unofficially organised and operate without the geological data that the large mining companies use. As such, the miners never know exactly where the gold is.
Another problem is that gold can no longer be found just beneath the surface of the earth, as was the case up until the 1990s. Prospectors must mine deeper and deeper. Until now the depletion of non-renewable resources like gold has not received much attention from international organisations – but it threatens the livelihood of millions of people.

During my visits in 2018 and 2019, Tanzania's government launched several initiatives to formalise this economic sector and by so doing, to strengthen it. For example, mineral markets were set up where global gold prices were openly announced and where brokers and traders were required to pay at least this global minimum price for gold. This transparency improves miners' negotiating position. Usually they depend on these traders and brokers, who make enough money in the gold business to invest in the mines.
In my research, I look at the diverse stakeholders in the political process and apply different methods. As an anthropologist, I have conducted 96 interviews with miners, mine-owners, brokers, advisors, NGO representatives and politicians. In addition to the interviews I conducted in Tanzania, I also spent a lot of time at the mines themselves or at conferences and meetings to observe the people and their interactions. I consider the government's efforts to officially organise these small-scale mining operations an important step. However, the measures implemented so far have primarily focussed on the prospectors who already have the means available to run their businesses more professionally, whereas the smallest and most marginalised run the risk of being left behind.
They could be supported by the use of less aggressive methods for gold processing, or given access to geological data which would enable them to act more independently.
In the long term, the small-scale mining operations in Tanzania will disappear completely and prospecting will be left to large, multinational companies. This is why the miners working at these small-scale mines require some international attention. In addition to improving their working conditions, we must create