Mohamed Bayoh climbed into a deep, black hole, hoping to emerge with a nugget that would change his life.
The 26-year-old Guinean is one of thousands of West Africans flocking to remote eastern Senegal in search of gold.
The rush for precious metals has dramatically transformed Bantakokouta, a city on the border of Mali and Guinea.
The local population numbered only a few dozen years ago, now there are a few thousand behind the floating population of dream seekers and risk takers with gold in their eyes.
Over time, the ant-like workforce has made the landscape like Swiss cheese.
As far as the eye can see, through the pervasive dust fog, Huddled small groups protected from the sun by makeshift shelter branches hauling up spoils scratched from the ground.
Women sit nearby, sorting the stones into two mounds – a large one for disposal and a smaller one for promising samples.
The same scene plays out every day, with no guarantee of success.
“Working here is like playing the lottery, you’re not sure if you’ll win,” chimed in Bayoh, who said he was determined to stay rich.
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Other sites in the gold-rich region have been seized by mining companies, sometimes leading to land disputes with local residents.
But in Bantakokouta, informal mining has been allowed to continue.
Diggers usually stay for a few months – sometimes just a few days – for a chance, hoping for a lucky strike that will enable them to send money home or start a business.
Bayoh’s goal is clear: “find a lot of gold,” he said.
“Not a little… a lot. To start another life in Guinea.
After six months of work, he had earned enough to buy two motorcycles.
One gram (0.03 ounce) of gold – roughly equivalent to 60 grains of rice – fetches 30,000 CFA francs, or about $48.
-Hard life-
But the risks miners face are many, from falls and fatal injuries and landslides to the use of drugs to illness and pain, said Diba Keita, chairman of the community vigilance committee.
The city has signs of poverty and transience.
The alleys are full of garbage, and sheep and goats roam unattended. Most of the huts are basic constructions, made of bamboo and wood.
In his workshop, Souleymane Segda, a 20-year-old from Burkina Faso, puts promising-looking chunks of ore through a grinder.
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The apparatus takes up many rooms, which do not have toilets and are bedrooms.
The young man was covered in dirt as he dug around in the dust looking for flecks of gold.
The flakes are recovered after washing the dust with mercury – a practice banned due to health and environmental risks, but still widespread.
“I can earn up to 50,000 CFA francs a day. I return home as much as possible and when I have earned enough, I will leave for good,” he said.
– Gold rush –
Bantakokouta has experienced many activities familiar to the world’s gold rush – many shops selling tools and electronic goods, places of worship, medical posts, nightclubs, video game rooms … and crimes and more.
“Gold brings wealth. In the past, we used to go to Mako,” a town 20 kilometers (12 miles) away, said 63-year-old Waly Keita.
He remembers with nostalgia when “our mothers” used to dig in the river bed, looking for nuggets, while the men went to the bush to hunt and collect honey.
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But the gold rush has also brought problems, including “bandits” and “conflicts,” he said.
Senegalese and foreigners generally do well in Bantakokouta, despite flareups.
In 2020, clashes between security forces and Guinean miners resulted in the deaths of two young people.
In the square not far from the store, a young woman in tight blue shorts and a red shirt was talking on the phone.
“No, it’s not good. It’s not enough. I won’t do anything with you,” he said in broken French.
Like dozens of others like her, the young woman was stranded in the city and had to work sex for a living.
“I don’t like my job,” he said quietly, looking embarrassed.
“Prostitution has become a major problem,” said Aliou Bakhoum, head of an NGO called La Lumiere (The Light) in the regional capital of Kedougou.
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“Young women, mainly from Nigeria and often underage, are victims of highly organized human trafficking.”
He said the association took in about 40 girls, some as young as 15, and helped them return home.
Traffickers lure women with the promise of jobs, transport them to West Africa and then force them to keep their mouths shut when the truth of the situation emerges.
– Security –
The trade has prompted the country to be vigilant and invest heavily in security and intelligence, said a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The authorities have also stepped up operations to secure the border with Mali, fearing the contagion of jihad from their deeply concerned neighbour.
“Eastern Senegal will be a very attractive area for jihadists, not necessarily to carry out attacks, but for recruitment and funding,” Western diplomats said.
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“Gold mining sites are ideal for finding frustrated young people who want to make money, and gold is very easy to hide and trade.”
Bantakokouta has dozens of kiosks run by Malians, where gold is bought and then smuggled across the border.
A 2021 report by the think-tank Timbuktu Institute highlighted the plight of poor and frustrated young people as one of the main causes of jihadist radicalization.
The Kedougou region has unemployment of more than 25 percent, a poverty rate of more than 70 percent and an alarming dropout rate.
When living conditions fell, many young people were tempted to try their luck in the mines.
But many came out disappointed, and willing to resort to anything.