The rocketing of the gold price and demand for critical minerals has intensified pressure on settings where large-scale mining (LSM) and artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) operations coexist. Without proper management, tensions between LSM companies and ASM communities can escalate into conflicts that threaten operational continuity, damage stakeholder relationships, and generate human rights and commercial liabilities for all parties. Done right, and with a genuine desire to control mutual risk and secure the social license to operate, building constructive relations between ASM and LSM can bring about meaningful change to local economies as well as community dynamics.
Levin Sources brings over 15 years of experience in LSM-ASM relations, with deep expertise in Central, East and West African contexts and especially in gold. We take a unique approach to ASM management, marrying our deep understanding of ASM political economies and cultures with a pragmatic respect for our clients’ commercial prerogatives and priorities.
The responsible mining standards many LSM companies apply rarely go far enough to truly dissipate tensions and reduce the probability of conflict, human rights abuses and environmental harm, leaving site and corporate leadership, as well as affected rightsholders, exposed. Our clients often retain us when they realise that they can improve how they handle ASM issues or their policies. As independent experts used to complicated operating contexts, we notice blind spots and patterns that mines can develop unwittingly over a long period of time. We have assisted mines with:
- Gathering the right information in the right way to truly understand the risk/opportunity landscape of ASM.
- Considering their ASM relations in a broader context, including taking into account the ASM’s relationships with the state, local authorities and the broader local community and completing a vested interests analysis.
- Understanding bad actor influence over ASM and develop a plan for addressing this.
- Recognising the internal barriers to good management of ASM, whether that’s linked to misaligned ambition, impediments created by bias, staff without the right skill set, existing policies and procedures not meeting needs, or a lack of coordination across functions.
- Expanding the traditional economy-focused approach to dealing with ASM issues by integrating the political and social influences and cultural belief systems that drive artisanal miners.
- Gathering intelligence, gain early warning of high-risk incidents, or find mutual solutions to mutual problems byall ASM, not just those miners who are fully formalised.
- Engaging the right stakeholders, dealing with those who really hold influence and power over ASM actors, as well as the formal authorities.
- Working in partnership with other stakeholders who are already taking action to support the professionalisation and legitimisation of ASM.
As a result, we’ve built our own approach to characterising and responding to LSM-ASM situations, one that is grounded in human rights due diligence and takes a thorough and pragmatic approach to risk. One West African client said, “The strategy you helped us prepare was really, really helpful in guiding our negotiations with the mine site managers and chiefs. We were able to free up the target area without incident.”
Our approach recognises that successful LSM-ASM relations are fundamentally about the social licence to operate and community resilience put into practice. We understand the intricate dynamics between communities and mining companies, as well as the tensions within and between communities. We design pragmatic and innovative strategies that address these multi-layered relationships.
Every strategy we develop is grounded in an appropriately targeted mix of situational analysis, institutional readiness assessment, and meaningful engagement with a mine’s stakeholders: ASM, community and internal. We understand that implementation can only be successful with early buy-in from local teams and site-level leadership as well as from appropriate senior management at HQ level.We make sure that we work hand in hand with all relevant teams.
This work on LSM-ASM relations is part of a larger body of work we do for mining companies, who typically engage us to:
- Provide specialist services within ESIAs & Resettlement Action Plans
- Support adaptation to market or investor requirements
- Support reporting to stakeholders
- Design and implement multistakeholder collaborations to address joint challenges / opportunities, for example to reduce risk salience or improve coordination within a territory
Our team’s expertise on ASM management and development is also sought after in policy-setting forums and we are involved in a suite of strategic conversations such as The World Bank’s Mining Better Together initiative, the LBMA ASM task group and the Mining 20230 Global Investor Commission, where we bring an ASM perspective.
Examples of Levin Sources' recent work on LSM-ASM relations include:
Sustainable mine closure with community benefit (2025)
Levin Sources supported a mining company closing a satellite pit at a mine in West Africa in identifying and assessing alternative approaches that could create an opportunity for community benefit, including through responsible community-based mining.
After a site visit and meetings with in-country personnel and community representatives, Levin Sources facilitated a senior-level workshop to look at sustainable options that could bring benefits to the local community, nation-state, and the client whilst meeting the company’s legal obligations.
Development of a long-term corporate strategy for Managing Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners (2024)
Levin Sources developed a comprehensive corporate strategy for a mining company's management of ASM in Ethiopia, including minimising risks associated with community relationships and enhancing the client's ability to influence local contexts positively. We engaged both the client's headquarters and mine site management, with significant community-level consultation.
The project was iterative and agile, adapting to mine site realities whilst aligning with corporate directives, based on the evolving findings from our research and conversations. A human rights-based approach ensured that the foundation of the ASM management strategy was community engagement and strong relationships.
Regional ASM management strategy for mining permits in challenging political contexts (2022-2023)
Working with a client operating multiple gold concessions in a border region of Mali, Levin Sources addressed the growing pressure on artisanal miners and local communities, who found themselves squeezed by diverse corporate mining licences that prevented them from mining formally, sustainably, and in settled communities.
We conducted an institutional readiness assessment and situational analysis, serving as the basis for qualitative field research and impact assessment. This led to the design of an appropriate human rights-based strategy and concession-specific plans in line with leading practice and local realities.
Comprehensive ASM dynamics study and action planning (2021)
Levin Sources conducted an in-depth study on ASM dynamics on and around exploitation permits across Mali, Guinea and Senegal. We provided a thorough understanding of social relationships and business networks within ASM and gold value chains. The analysis highlighted key drivers and leaders influencing ASM activities, as well as leverage points for the client. Based on these findings, we developed a practical action plan for ASM engagement and management, with recommendations for implementation at both site and regional levels.
