Artisanal miners in Naduat village of Turkana North receive a gold crushing machine from the Turkana County Government
It is early in the morning but the scorching sun could not stop Peter Erus, 49, to search for gold very deep in the soil. With his sack, basin and a gold detecting machine, he still hopes that everyday as other people go to work he could also do the same by searching gold in Naduat Village, an area well known for gold in Turkana North. He is a father of seven and a gold miner for eight years. However, he earns a living from the gold mining job. It has been risky since they are not well-equipped with the machinery.
But as the saying goes, “God will never forsake his people," Peter is one of the lucky miners, who have benefited from a crushing machine donation from the Turkana County Government. “We are happy as miners because of this crushing machine. The manual way we used to crush stones was cumbersome and risky, “ said Erus. Stella Opakas, County Director for Mineral Resources, said the donation would relieve the artisanal miners the cost of hiring a similar machine hence reducing its cost. “The machine crushes the stones from which residual deposits of gold is extracted and this will reduce the energy used during manual undertaking of the same," Director Opakas added.
Joseph Ekiru, chairman of the Turkana County Association of Artisanal Miners Association said that the donation will however help to embrace gender in artisanal mining in Turkana. “I urge the County Government through the line Ministry to take advantage of the large deposits of a variety of mineral resources to encourage more people to join the mining sector in Turkana, “ advised Ekiru.