Management of Mining Waste and Sustainable Development on the Gold Panning Site of Tangonie (Burkina Faso)

The gold mining sector has been one of the key sectors of the Burkinabè economy in recent years. The extraction and processing of gold ore results in the production of mining waste upstream. These mining wastes have short and long term impacts on human health and the environment if their management is not adequate. In view of the impacts posed by gold panning (artisanal gold mining), in particular waste management, it is appropriate to question the management of this waste. This article seeks to know the way in which mining waste is managed on the gold panning site of Tangonie and to see to what extent it impacts on sustainable development. In order to achieve this objective, a collection and analysis of data followed a state of the art on the theme. Data collection involved one hundred and thirty (130) people and took place on the Tangonie site, which is located in the municipality of Bonie. The results of the study show that there are four (04) modes of waste management. These are the rejection of waste in nature, the burial, the recycling of waste and the burning of waste. Through these management methods, the chemicals (mainly mercury and cyanide) used for gold processing end up directly in the waste. Consequently, there is damage to human health and contamination and/or degradation of the environment (soils, vegetation, waterways and groundwater). This contributes to impacting sustainable development with the effects caused.