Artisanal mining in Burkina Faso: A historical overview of iron ore extraction, processing and production in the Dem region

In sub-Saharan Africa, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has changed very little for hundreds of years and today is the most important economic activity in many of the region's rural communities. It is rare to find a near-complete record of mining practice and skill, but in the Dem region of Burkina Faso, a history of extraction, processing and smelting of iron ore is recorded in 3 opencast mines, 2 underground mines, waste dumps, processing sites, and 11 furnaces that host fragments of furnace wall clay, tuyeres, and rare crucibles. The immediate mining footprint covers 1.9 by 1.3 km. Mine site mapping and petrographic study of the Dem site has shown that selective extraction of magnetite-hematite primary ore from fractures in quartz veins, and secondary hematite-goethite ore in iron-rich ferricrete, took place, along with smelting in furnaces to produce iron metal. Limited carbon dating of furnace charcoal supports ethnographic research that points to iron smelting being more than two centuries old, extending as far back as the Songhai Empire in the 15th century. The Dem ASM site should, therefore, be protected and preserved as a historic and cultural monument by the relevant authorities in Burkina Faso at state and provincial levels.