Claims in non-industrial gold mines are not normally established in writing. A claim is simply staked on a 'first come first served' basis. If anybody wants to claim a particular spot right after a discovery, he may have to literally sit on it until a friend or partner brings the tools for working it. Once individual parcels have been dug out for about one meter, ownership is normally recognized. If there is dispute about one pit, the case is brought before whatever authority is there-a police or gendarmerie post, the elected representative of the gold diggers, or whoever is recognized as a mediator by both parties, such as for instance a senior, experienced gold digger. In the beginning, individual pits are separated by a wall; later, conflicts frequently arise when someone starts removing this wall from his side of the pit and encroaches on what his neighbor considers as his part. Outbursts of violence can occur at all stages of a mining cycle, hut once the mine has been there for some weeks, there will be accepted institutions or mechanisms for conflict regulation.
The owner of a mining pit may run it himself, or, should he lack the financial means, lease it to a friend for a fixed period of time. This may be a temporary agreement for one week only called tour that confirms bonds between mining entrepreneurs. The owner or leaseholder hires a team of laborers who work the claim in day and night shifts. Depending on the type of deposit and the size of the pit, the crew can comprise as many as thirty or more laborers. Each crew consists of unskilled and skilled workers. There is no formal training, but someone who eventually becomes a professional gold miner typically starts with unskilled work. If he is very young and not yet physically fit for harder work, this can include bringing food to the workplace.
He may then work his way 'up the ladder' through time, exercising different activities in the same or different mines: scooping groundwater from the shaft with containers, cutting wood for supporting beams, removing earth and gravel outside the pit, or working inside the pit with sledgehammer, pickaxe, or chisel. If he is eventually both skilled and reliable, he may become one of the few team members who are entrusted with extracting the most valuable pieces of ore. With the rare exception of some women who dress and act like men, women do not normally work in the mining pits.
In Burkina Faso, French terms are used for the team members, including the pit owner patron, the leaseholder gérant, the overseer chef degroupe, the clerk commis, skilled miners tapeurs, unskilled mine rs mancruvres, wood cutters mainteneurs, watchmen gardiens for the pit and the storing place for ore, and someone who brings food porteur de repas (usually a boy or a woman). In addition to the core team, there are blast men or blacksmiths and others who provide services that are contracted on the spot.
The employer is responsible for food, clothing, shelter, and-in case of accident or illness-medical treatment. He may also provide alcoholic beverages and cigarettes. Until the gold-hearing vein is reached- which can take up to several weeks or even months-the gold diggers do not receive a salary. Once the pit starts 'producing' they will get a share of the ore. After a certain quantity of ore has been amassed, the employer receives half of it and the crew is left to share the other half. For the most part the pit owners claim the most valuable pieces of ore for themselves, citing the overhead costs of running the mine to justify their larger share.
The gold miners can sell their share of ore on the spot to professional ore buyers, or have it processed and sell the resulting amount of gold. Most gold miners do not store ore or gold. This is partly due to their need for cash, partly to avoid theft. The ore is crushed, ground, and washed in a fenced-in area, the comptoir, by people from the neighboring villages who work in the mining camps as day laborers. Although it is ethically prohibited, mercury is used to amalgamate the gold dust. The gold obtained is sold to the licensed gold traders who in turn sell it to the C.B.M.P. or another marketing company. In order to attract and keep customers, gold traders give out mercury for free, or they give credit to newcomers to the mine who are then obliged to sell their gold to them. However, a portion of the gold is also sold to black market traders. These black market traders either come from the outside or they are the same official gold traders who pursue this illegal activity at night. Black market traders acquire clients either by approaching a gold digger directly or via third parties who introduce potential clients to them. Often, these third parties are the women who run the stalls where the ore is processed. These women are normally very well informed about the production of individual mining pits, and they are acquainted with both gold diggers and gold traders.
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