Methodology of Data Collection and Data Processing

This data collection attempts to compile ASM population data (number of ASM miners) on a global scale, from published and unpublished sources believed to be reliable.

Commonly such data collections list the numbers of ASM miners in known ASM countries. This compilation takes a different approach, listing all countries and assessing for each country whether ASM exists (or likely exists) or not. Where quantitative data exists (i.e. published numbers of ASM miners) these data are compiled in the corresponding country data sheet.

This systematic approach ensures that no ASM country is “overlooked”. Additionally, it showed that the ASM population of many countries is unknown because it has never been assessed!

A compilation of published data on the global ASM population faces a series of issues:

• Data are from different years, in some cases more than 20 years old and repeatedly re-published. The original date of primary data is often unknown.
• Data from different countries are based on different national definitions of ASM.
• Data might have different commodity scopes, in some cases only counting miners extracting typical ASM export commodities such as gold, gemstone and 3T (and sometimes only one or two of these categories) and in other cases also including “development minerals” for local use.
• Data are based on a widely varying understanding of the term “miner”. In the most narrow case just the mine owners (e.g. members of a cooperative but not their workers), frequently only those persons extracting mineral inside the mine (omitting processing plants or other activities), and in the widest case all persons involved in the various activities related to ASM mineral production.
• Data may or may not include seasonal or part-time miners.
• Data may be biased according to the purpose of counting ASM miners or according to the type of organisation that counts the miners (government, private sector, civil society)
• Data vary according to inclusion or exclusion of the informal sector.
• etc.

In consequence, global ASM data are always inherently inconsistent!

Data processing therefore finds its limitations if it relies on a strictly procedural methodology. It is more art than science. This led to the choice of a mixed database platform, combining descriptive Wiki pages with quantitative SQL data tables. Each country needs to be assessed individually, taking into account the above issues to understand the published numbers, and attempting to triangulate the data with socio-economic, demographic, geologic and other aspects to reach plausible estimates. Data triangulation and plausibility checks were therfore carried out for each county. The rationale of the estimation, based on the author's 30 years of professional experience in the ASM sector in Latin America, Africa and Asia, is described in each country's data sheet. In several cases, the results of these considerations need to be taken as “informed best guess” or “working hypothesis”. In any case it is believed that a full data set partly based on working hypotheses provides more value to strategic discussions than partial data with un-identified gaps.

Pending immediate next steps (comming soon) are:

• Provide descriptive rationales for countries with existing but not quantified ASM
• Add a database field to mark quantitative data as reported ® or estimated (e) … in progress (field created, populating with data)

To improve data consistency, more work is needed, foremost comprehensive field-based baseline assessments generating more primary data, but also analysis of secondary data benchmarking ASM country data with contemporary generally accepted ASM definitions, disaggregating data by gender, and aligning criteria for counting ASM miners.

2018: Version 1 published. (Static visualization of an Excel dataset)
2022-04: Version 2 (database-driven) launched.
2022-10: National statistical data (initially WorldBank 2018 was used) replaced by 2020 data, i.e. the most recent quite complete datasets for population and GNI

All visitors are cordially invited to contribute to ASM knowledge!
If you have any additional, better, newer or simply different ASM data for any country, please contact: felix.hruschka@artisanalmining.org