But in the dry season, when water levels drop, the Tehya, a natural boundary between the Temne and Mende tribes, reluctantly surrenders another precious resource. Hiding in the pale sands of the river bed lies a fine streak of gold dust.
Forever hopeful, chiseled villagers work the river with equal amounts of energy, craft, and patience. Six days a week, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., groups of three or four men and women collaborate in a rhythmic sequence of interlocking tasks. The men begin: While one paddles a dug-out canoe with a shovel, the other swims the short distance to the middle of the river. There, he dives to the bottom with a bucket, fills it with sand, and tugs on the bucket’s tether before gliding back to the surface. His partner pulls the bucket out of the water and empties the heavy contents around his feet. This process is repeated dozens of times until the sand is one load away from sinking the canoe.
The men then return to the shore, where they carefully deposit the compact cargo into the waiting women’s sifting pans.
For the next few hours, their agile hands shake and swirl the sand in a fluid, circular motion. Removing rocks and debris, tipping the pan from side to side, letting some water in, but not too much, they gradually clear the mud and extract the worthless pebbles until finally...
... appearing through a thin coat of black sand, a shimmer of gold dust rewards their efforts.
For the right to toil in the river, local authorities collect a weekly "water rate" of 5,000 leones (approximately $2) per person, a fee that is not prohibitive. Determination and some good fortune can yield enough gold dust to make a small profit. Buyers typically come from Freetown, where the re-sell market is fickle but much larger than in provincial towns.
This relatively small quantity, the product of several days of diving and panning, may be worth up to $200, depending on the going price of gold. Divided by three or four, it makes for a meager income, but it feeds children and buys a few necessities.
This modest entrepreneurial spirit may soon be drowned out by external forces on a quest for higher profits and rising market shares.
Milestone Mining Co., a subsidiary of the British Target Resources Plc., is in the process of applying for a prospecting license on the Tehya. Introducing commercial mining could dramatically alter the river's environment and destroy its fragile economic potential for local villagers.
At a community meeting on Feb.15, the company's CEO, Dr. Nissim Levy, tried to reassure a skeptic audience. He promised the area's Member of Parliament, the deputy minister of marine resources, and a room full of residents that Milestone would hire local workers, compensate those whose crops would have to be forfeited, and pave the dirt road leading into Yele, the closest town to the river.
After the meeting, Sunthuba Bai Osara, the Paramount Chief, himself a former mining engineer, would only say that negotiations were ongoing. He urged all parties to keep asking questions, and invited the mining executives to return for further consultations with the people.
Milestone already has exclusive prospecting licenses for gold covering a total of 520 km2 in the Tonkolili District alone.
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