In a press release signed on 22 December 2023, the Cameroonian Ministry of Mines banned all artisanal and semi-mechanised mining activities beyond a depth of 30m. This measure has been taken to protect and preserve the environment and to prevent any risk of landslides and loss of human life.
Cameroon’s Acting Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, Fuh Calistus Gentry, has called on all mining operators whose sites are deeper than 30m to “immediately suspend their activities, evacuate their production machinery and equipment, restore and close the said sites”.
An exception has been made for operators of semi-mechanised sites. They must “first submit a mining plan and a geotechnical study on the stability of the slopes, with the aim of migrating to small-scale mining”, according to the ministry in charge of mines.
According to the new mining code promulgated by President Paul Biya on 19 December 2023, “artisanal mining must be concentrated at a maximum depth of 10m, using methods and processes that only involve human power”.
This measure comes at a time when the abandonment of mining sites in Cameroon is resulting in gaping holes that have become artificial lakes, degrading the environment and endangering the lives of local populations.
As a reminder, according to a survey carried out by the non-governmental organisation Foder – Forestry and rural development (Forêts et développement rural), 205 deaths were recorded at mining sites in the East and Adamaoua regions between 2015 and 2022, including 12 cases of drowning in artificial lakes. The 193 other deaths were due to rockfalls and landslides caused by abandoned holes.
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