Gold rush in West Africa : The appropriation of natural resources : Non-industrial gold mining in south-western Burkina Faso

The A. sketches the beginning of a gold rush in Burkina Faso and discusses patterns of appropriating the natural resources land and gold. Both by the local people and the immigrating gold diggers land and gold are not merely seen as material objects but are conceived of as being endowed with supernatural properties. This has specific consequences for the way in which the local population and the gold diggers compete for the control of these resources. By comparing different cases of the appropriation of gold mines, three patterns emerge: laissez faire, negotiation, or expulsion