Diabougou is a village in the
Tambacounda Region
Tambacounda, formerly known as ''Sénégal Oriental'', is a region of Senegal. It used to be part of the Mali Empire before the borders were created to separate Mali from Senegal. Tambacounda is physically the largest of Senegal's 14 regions, but ...
of eastern
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
, near the border with
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
. The village is north of the town of
Kidira
Kidira is a town and commune in Tambacounda Region of eastern Senegal, lying near the Malian border. Its population in 2013 was about 10,000.
Transport
It is an important transport hub and lies on the N1 and N2 roads, the Dakar – Bamako ...
and its major transport links, and close to the
Falémé River
The Falémé River is a river in West Africa. The Falémé arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, forming a short portion of the border between Guinea and Senegal. It turns north and then forms a portion of th ...
.
[Diabougou]
Google maps, 21 August 2015 The village has grown rapidly since 2006 due to the thousands of immigrant miners attracted by a local
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...
. Diabougou has the largest informal gold mining operation in Senegal.
[
]
History
Diabougou is located in the Tambacounda Region of eastern Senegal. Diabougou is north of the town of Kidira and its links to transnational railway lines and major roads.[ The nearby river is the border with the neighbouring country of Mali. Before the discovery of gold, Diabougou was a traditional village of straw-covered mud huts where the people looked after goats. Historically, the population was about 500][ or 1,000.][
]
Gold mining town
Since 2006, when large deposits of gold were discovered here, Diabougou grew rapidly into a mining village, with the traditional round huts now joined by a shanty town of structures built from whatever materials came to hand, from plastic sheeting to planks, sheet metal, and cardboard. A wide range of impromptu shops repair cycles and motorbikes, and sell food and cell phones. It has been estimated that the population was 10,000 in 2013,[ but the workforce also includes ]commuters
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regu ...
. Being near the border with Mali, the village has attracted workers from across the border as well as from Guinea and The Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
.[Senegal's Golden Ticket: The Secret To Stability Amid Strife In West Africa]
Jacey Fortin, ''International Business Times'', 2012, Retrieved 25 August 2015
A 2011 report said that the gold rush had given the village a population of thousands, who were joining the unofficial part of the Senagalese mining industry. The new population from nearby Mali is supplemented by workers who use motorbikes to cross the river to commute internationally each day.[ Workers who do not traditionally come from Diabougou have to pay a levy to the local chief to mine here.][ The miners in the village have created a system to manage the distribution of profit, but amateur miners can get involved in building improvised mine shafts that can reach a depth of . At this depth, the miners face both the danger of collapse and high temperatures.][ The mines will tackle finds that may stretch for half a mile and this may involve 300 people working together.][
Regular work for boys is to carry large quantities of water from the river in plastic jugs so that gold may be extracted. The ore and water are run over sluices which are lined with carpet. The carpet entraps heavier minerals, whilst the water and lighter material are washed away. Traditionally, the gold gathered is evaluated each Friday.][
]
Health and social problems
Unofficial miners have experienced health problems. A likely cause was contact with mercury, as this poisonous metal is used to combine gold dust into larger clumps. The process requires a lot of water, and this waste water then appears in the village's sole drinking water pump.
The village has also attracted prostitution. It has been reported that there has been a large increase in the number of HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
sufferers.Senegal's Gold Ticket
IBTimes, Retrieved 20 August 2015
The gold boom has attracted the international mining companies Teranga and Bassari. It has been speculated that the country's political stability may be undermined if rich resources are discovered, since traditionally the mining industry of Senegal has been relatively poor.[
]
References
{{reflist
Populated places in Senegal
Mining in Senegal