Mali’s reputation for gold dates back to 1223, anchoring a legacy that still shapes the country’s economy and identity today.

Gold mining accounts for about 75% of Mali’s exports, making it Africa’s third-largest gold producer with an annual yield expected to reach 55 tons. Yet beneath these impressive statistics lies a harsher truth: approximately 10% of that gold comes from artisanal mines—where child labor continues to lurk in the shadows.

Though government ministers and trade unions publicly demanded an end to child labor in traditional mines as early as 2005 and despite a 2011 presidential denial of its existence, reports from organizations like Human Rights Watch reveal a stark reality.

Children, alongside adults, toil in teams of two to six, with men and boys descending into precarious mineshafts while women and girls haul loads of dirt and potential gold to the surface.

Constant exposure to fine stone dust often leads to chronic sinusitis, while some young miners turn to drug use to sustain their energy for grueling shifts.

The dangers only multiply with frequent mine collapses and floods, sometimes trapping workers below ground.

Driven by the hope of striking it rich, many children ultimately forgo their education, gambling their future on the promise of gold.