Artisanal and Small Scale Mining is emerging as an important activity in Ilesa West Local Government. The location is the Local Government's Scheme III Alabidan area, off Osogbo road.
Today, gold is being extracted along the stream before reaching the AKAD area. Locals are using simple method of digging of the soil and washing to get the gold deposits beneath the soil around the stream. This method is called placer mining
Because placer mining doesn't crush rock and doesn't usually use chemicals to extract gold, the environmental impacts are generally less than those of hardrock mining. .
The primary impacts of placer mining are habitat destruction and sediment release. Habitat destruction occurs as a result of river diversions, and the disruption of riverbanks and river bottoms. These activities also release large amounts of silt and sediment into downstream waterways, which can severely impact water quality.
I visited the area recently and come with these throwback photos:
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