France
ASM Population in French Guyana: 8,500
(Note: French Guyana is an overseas department/region of France, fully integrated in the French Republic)
Recent information from Heemskerk is primary field data and reflects situation in 2024: 8,500
Min/max: low uncertainty because of primary field data: +/- 500
Female participation: indicated as <10%: 800.
Gold: All data are for ASGM.
Data sources for estimation
2024:
Personal communication in 01/2025 from Marieke Heemskerk:
Recent size estimation for the garimpeiro population in French Guiana. We came at 8,500 persons, among whom <10% women.
2018:
IGF-18 and ARM-18 replicate earlier data
2014: 7,000
(UBC-14): Gold-only data produced by statistic modelling:
Expected ASM population: 20,000 - 7,000 Estimated ASM gold production: 3.6 t/a
1999: 7,500
(ILO-99): Employment: 5,000 - 10,000
Number of mines: n/a
Illegal mines:n/a
Publications
| Reference | Year | Citation | Archived Copy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARM-18 | 2018 | Barreto, M.L.,Schein, P., Hinton, J., Hruschka, F. (2018): The Impact of Small-Scale Mining Operations on Economies and Livelihoods in Low- to Middle-Income Countries. ARM, Envigado, PACT, Westcombe. | arm-18.pdf | responsiblemines.org/… |
| IGF-18 | 2018 | IGF (2018): Global Trends in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM): A review of key numbers and issues. IIED/IISD, London, Winnipeg. | igf-18.pdf | iisd.org/… |
| UBC-14 | 2014 | Seccatore, J., Veiga, M., et al. (Univ. of British Columbia - UBC) (2014): An estimation of the artisanal small-scale production of gold in the world. Scitotenv. 496. | ubc-14.pdf | doi.org/… |
| ILO-99 | 1999 | Jennings, N. (1999): Social and labour issues in small-scale mines. Report for discussion at the Tripartite Meeting on Social and Labour Issues in Small-scale Mines. ILO, Geneva. | ilo-99.pdf | ilo.org/… |
Further Materials
Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAAA4BC593A398025
Articles:
Data Section
| ASM DATA - Country Database Record | |
|---|---|
| Country Code | FRA |
| Country | France |
| ASM Status | Existing (data assessed) |
| Country Count | 1 |
| Data year | 2024 |
| Publ. year | 2025 |
| ASM Miners | 8,500 |
| - gold | 8 ,500 |
| Data curation | as reported |
| Inc. DevMin | no |
| - min. | 8,000 |
| - max. | 9,000 |
| - female | 800 |
| ASM Commodities | gold |