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In pictures: Going for gold in Mozambique

Prospectors perform backbreaking work to claw the tiny nuggets from the mud, often in tunnels far beneath the ground.

The gold diggers produce on average two to three grams of gold a day. On luckier days, they can even make 15-30 grams.
By Zsofia Palyi
Published On 20 Apr 2013

Manica, Mozambique – They are washing the soil, day and night, hoping to reveal gold.

In this area of Mozambique, 70-80 percent of gold prospectors arrive illegally from the neighbouring country of Zimbabwe. The nuggets, which officially belong to the state, end up in the hands of Nigerian, Somalian, Zimbabwean, Israeli and Lebanese merchants.

The state is left with polluted ground and river water, unsuitable for drinking or watering, and with gold-diggers’ damaged health.

The miners claw at the earth between 15 and 20 metres beneath the surface, in an extensive tunnel system.

A Lebanese merchant usually pays up to 1200 to 1300 meticals ($44-48) for one gram of gold.
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The diggers work on their own account, and after selling the gold they must give half of the money to the owner of the land.
They build artificial bases and dams at the river bank where they wash the soil day and night to find the gold.
They are digging at a depth of 15 to 20 metres beneath the surface, in an extensive tunnel system.
Today(***)s lunch is xima, an inexpensive and popular food of many African countries, made of cassava.
Those who carry the sacks from the mine to the riverbank walk sometimes up to one kilometre with the bag on their head.
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They get 15 meticals (about $0.50) per sack they deliver to the river. On average, they deliver 48 to 50 sacks a day.