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Asayehgn Desta
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DOI:10.17265/2328-2185/2026.05.001
Sarlo Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Economic Development, San Rafael, USA
For countries endowed with mineral resources, particularly those with gold-bearing ores, gold serves as a vital economic driver, expanding infrastructure, creating jobs, generating higher tax revenues, attracting substantial foreign direct investment, and providing a hedge against economic uncertainty and currency devaluation. Luckily, following the Cessation Agreement signed between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Pretoria (South Africa) on November 2, 2022, the demand for gold surged and international gold prices rose. As a result, several informal artisanal and small-scale miners (ASGM) as well as other unregulated gold mining operations restarted and began new gold ventures in the gold-endowed northwestern region of Tigray. Consequently, gold operations in Northwestern Tigray have become a blessing, generating profit for informal artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASGM) while also draining the region’s natural resources through possible adverse environmental impacts and endangering Northwestern Tigray’s pristine environment. As of mid-April 2026, the Pretoria Peace Agreement between the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front is effectively nullified. Nonetheless, gold operations persist. They provide critical employment opportunities for several local people who were forced to abandon their animal husbandry and agricultural livelihoods. To address their severe joblessness, many migrant refugees and school-aged children, who dropped out of school, are drawn to the mining region. However, because ASGM is informal, unregulated, and often conducted without licenses or formal legalization, it largely uses the conventional “take-make-waste” approach. They contribute to geological alterations, vegetation loss, hazardous waste accumulation, and substantial climate change driven by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The mercury and cyanide used to extract gold from ore have significantly exceeded the WHO and EPA safety limits for drinking water contamination and environmental pollution. Therefore, this study uses a mix of the pillars of sustainable development (socio-economic and environmental) and the cradle-to-cradle approach (which leverages material upcycling, uses renewable energy, and promotes diversified production) as a conceptual framework to assess the socio-economic and environmental impacts of gold mining operations in Northwestern Tigray. Methodologically, the study primarily drew on published works by academic and industry experts and used multiple electronic databases, including Google Scholar and Scopus. Recognizing that existing ASGMs are informal, the study suggests establishing formalized licensing requirements before ASGMs begin operations. Furthermore, the study calls for national government agencies, local government units, and the private sector to jointly develop, support, and manage regular regulatory assessment techniques that support the development of community-based environmental monitoring programs. These programs will enhance equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms, minimize ecological footprints, and ensure that local communities and state governments share responsibility for establishing robust, incentive-based, formal approaches to integrating ASGM activities into the formal economy. To enhance environmental restoration and enable existing mining sites to thrive for productive future uses, the study also suggests transforming toxic waste into renewable resources and highlights that the remaining reengineered and reorganized toxic waste stored in tailings needs to be integrated into circular biological economy streams (such as nutrient-rich soil, organic biomass) and technical streams (such as recovered metals, green materials) for productive uses. To address the study’s limitations, elaborate and strengthen the socio-economic and environmental effects of ASGM activities in Northwestern Tigray, and make their operational dynamics more transparent so as to facilitate sustainable development, a longitudinal empirical analysis of primary data collected across multiple time points is recommended.
resource curse, footprints, gold mining activities, pristine environment, cradle-to-grave, stakeholder engagement, cradle-to-cradle system of sustainability, pull and push factors
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