Hundreds of gold seekers have flocked to this locality of 20,000 inhabitants since the discovery of gold last May. To explore the sites and allow for legal exploitation, Guinean authorities banned artisanal gold mining in this zone last June and law enforcement forces were deployed to secure the sites.

Angry residents

Despite this ban, mining activities continued, provoking the anger of residents who undertook to set up their own surveillance. Mamadou Chérif Diallo is the mayor of the locality of Kounsitel. "When we banned it, there were only two exploitation sites. Today, we are at 28 sites. We decided to organize our youth. We told them to go to the sites to prevent gold work."

Complicity of law enforcement?

Local populations accuse security forces of complicity with the artisanal gold miners. Mamadou Samba Diallo, coordinator of youth in Kounsitel denounces: "Unfortunately, we found that the soldiers who came to secure the site work with the gold miners, who pay them. They work with them all night. We cannot ask for the departure of the soldiers because it is the government that decided to send them here. All we are asking for is the departure of the gold miners."

Calm appears to have returned between the two camps, but some artisanal gold miners have still not left the zone.