The Gold Leak: Inside Cameroon’s Fractured Mining Crackdown
In Kambélé, an artisanal mining hub in Cameroon’s East region, 18-year-old Jérémie Nathan sits on a mound of excavated earth holding a hand-shovel. Until last month, he cleared gravel lines for Zhenguo Sarl, a foreign-owned semi-mechanised mining company operating in the area. Today, the excavators are chained and silent. A central government decree has ordered more than 200 of these companies across the East and Adamawa regions to halt operations immediately, deploying military personnel to seal their heavy machinery. (image) Would you like us to summarize articles for you? ARTICLE SUMMARY Cameroon has frozen more than 200 semi-mechanised mining operations in its East and Adamawa regions after data revealed that tonnes of gold were being smuggled out annually — between 2021 and ...