In Ghana, the thriving yet hazardous unlicensed gold mining industry known as 'galamsey' is providing essential income but also causing severe environmental damage and health risks. Despite government crackdowns,

At an unlicensed gold mine in Ghana, men in t-shirts, shorts and rubber boots wade through pools of muddy water laced with mercury, pull out rocks with bare hands and operate a rickety sluice as they search for the precious ore.

Ghana has a gold problem: illegal mines, known as 'galamsey', where men work without proper protective equipment. It threatens their lives – and the environment.

At the expense of workers’ health, increased crime and adverse environmental effects, the heightened price of gold stimulates Ghanaian black market mining industry