The pic on the left is of one of the pits that have been excavated. The soil is then collected and taken to a smaller area... like the pic on the right. The people stand inside of the pond/ditch type enclosure up to their waist and sift through the soil looking for the gold. The small silver bowl on the board near the woman is what she has collected so far. The bowl will then be heated over some coals so the water evaporates and only the gold pieces remain. After a days work, the gold is taken to an "office" onsite and is sold to the dealer. The amount paid to the gold miners is very small compared to the profit the gold dealer will receive when he resells it. Either way, the people walk away with several hundreds of cedi's on a good day. So... it's no wonder soooo many people trek very far out into the mining areas and sift for gold all day. A continuation of this story will follow later today.
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