Mozambique

Total: Interpretation of the excellent and very detailed census MOZ-2022a: As min and max have a different scope (just mining vs. including supply chain) a value “in between” is considered a valid interpretation, compatible with estimates from other countries. A value slightly above the arithmetic average of min/max is taken, to account for provinces that were not accessible, and because the overall scope of the census was only artisanal mining, not including small-scale mining (as usuall in most other countries) → 640,000
Min/max: as per MOZ-2022a, rounded to thousands → 460,000 - 807,000
Female participation: reported as 11.7% directly engaged in extraction, but 41,6% in trading. Other support staff (in mining and supply chain) is not disaggregated. As support activities of women are commonly not perceived as “work” and therefore underreported, overall female participation is interpreted as likely in the range of 30%. → 192,000
Gold: 136,160 out of the 229,680 persons directly engaged in extraction corresponds to 60% ASGM. It can be assumed that this percentage also applies to the Total → 385,000

2022: 460,892 - 806,957

(MOZ-2022a) Artisanal mining census

Total persons involved in ASM - Table 10.1 disaggregated by provinces and type of activity)
 Envolvido na mineração artesanal: 460,892 (of which 229.680 directly engaged in extraction, 141,869 on own account and 87,811 as workers; and 231,212 other staff)
 Envolvido em cadeia de valor da mineração com outras actividades: 346,065 (of which 151,688 trader/supplier (Comerciante); and 194,377 other staff)
 Total: 806,957

Gender disaggregation
 Table 4.1, Out of sub-sample of 229,680 directly engaged in extraction: 88.3% men, 11.7% women. 
 Table 9.1, Out of sub-sample of 151,688 traders: 58,4% men, 41,6% women.
 
Minerals mined - Table 4.14, Out of the sub-sample of 229,680 persons directly engaged in extraction:
 Gold              136,160
 Gemstones          22,820
 Tantalite             172
 Clay               14,623
 Construction Stone 36,243
 Sand               19,085
 Coal                  577

2018: 100,000

(IGF-18): Table 3

Directly working in ASM: 100,000
Estimated number of dependants: 1,200,000
Main Minerals: Gold, Coloured gemstones

2016: 100,000

(HIL-16):

Directly working in ASM: 100,000
Estimated number of dependants: 1,200,000

2014: 291,000

(UBC-14): Gold-only data produced by statistic modelling:

Expected ASM population: 291,000 
Estimated ASM gold production: 3 t/a

2013: 60,000

(IIED-13): 60,000

2003: 60,000

(MMSD-03): Estimate for MMSD research country: 60,000
MMSD study by B.Drechsler (https://commdev.org/pdf/publications/Small-Scale-Mining-Development-SADC-Region.pdf)

1999: 50,400

(ILO-99): Employment: 700 - 100,000
Number of mines: 150
Illegal mines: +/- 95%

ReferenceYearCitationArchived CopyLink
UBC-142014Seccatore, 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.pdfdoi.org/…
MOZ-2022a2022MIREME, INE (2022): Censo de Mineradores Artesanais de Mocambiquemoz-2022a.pdfine.gov.mz/…
MMSD-032003Hentschel, T., Hruschka, F., Priester, M. (2003): Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining - Challenges and Opportunities. MMSD (IIED), London.mmsd-03.pdfpubs.iied.org/…
ITDG-012001Dreschler, B. (2001): Small-scale Mining and Sustainable Development within the SADC Region. MMSD, ITDG, Londonitdg-01.pdfcommdev.org/…
ILO-991999Jennings, 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.pdfilo.org/…
IIED-132013Buxton, A. (2013): Responding to the challenge of artisanal and small-scale mining. How can knowledge networks help? IIED, London.iied-13.pdfpubs.iied.org/…
IGF-182018IGF (2018): Global Trends in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM): A review of key numbers and issues. IIED/IISD, London, Winnipeg.igf-18.pdfiisd.org/…
HIL-162016Hilson, G. (2016): Artisanal and small-scale mining and agriculture: Exploring their links in rural sub-Saharan Africa. IIED, London.hil-16.pdfpubs.iied.org/…
GMA-182018UNEP (2018): Global Mercury Assessment 2018. Technical Background Report E-Annex. Chapter 3.2. UNEP, Geneva.gma-18.pdfwedocs.unep.org/…
ARM-182018Barreto, 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.pdfresponsiblemines.org/…
AMDC-172017AMDC (2017): ASM Sector Report. Selected countries policy profile review of ASMamdc-17.pdfknowledge.uneca.org/…
ASM DATA - Country Database Record
Country CodeMOZ
CountryMozambique
ASM StatusExisting (data assessed)
Country Count1
Data year2022
Publ. year2022
ASM Miners640,000
- gold385 ,000
Data curation as reported
Inc. DevMinyes
- min.460,000
- max.807,000
- female192 ,000
ASM Commoditiesgold, gemstone, tantalite, clay, construction materials, coal
  • country/mozambique.txt
  • Last modified: 2023/04/14
  • by Felix Hruschka