Gold mining companies across West Africa are turning to aerial surveillance technology to combat escalating incursions by artisanal miners, as record gold prices above $3,300 per ounce fuel increasingly violent confrontations at corporate mining sites, Reuters reported.

At Gold Fields’ Tarkwa mine in southwestern Ghana, drone operators recently detected suspicious activity, leading a 15-person response team including armed police to discover abandoned wildcat mining equipment, mercury-contaminated water pools, and freshly dug trenches. The team confiscated seven diesel pumps and processing units used for riverbed gold extraction, the agency said.

Nearly 20 illicit miners have died in confrontations at major mining operations since late 2024, including at Newmont and AngloGold Ashanti sites in Ghana and Guinea, and Nordgold’s Bissa Mine in Burkina Faso. These clashes have caused production halts lasting up to a month, prompting companies to request increased military protection.

“Because of the vegetation cover, if you don’t have eyes in the air, you won’t know something destructive is happening,” Edwin Asare, Gold Fields Tarkwa Mine’s head of protection services, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s unofficial mining operations support nearly 10 million people, with three to five million in West Africa depending on unregulated mining that accounts for approximately 30% of regional gold production. Rising geopolitical tensions could push gold to $5,000 per ounce, potentially escalating conflicts, warns Sahel security analyst Ulf Laessing.

Mining companies are spending heavily on countermeasures, with one Ghanaian operation investing half a million dollars annually on drone surveillance. Ghana’s Minerals Commission is establishing an AI-powered control room analyzing data from 28 drones, including technology to remotely disable unauthorized excavators.