The Mongolian Gold Wars

Gold mining has sparked a clash between illegal diggers, artisanal miming associations and large multinationals.

- Zigor Aldama

It’s still pitch dark in the small Mongolian town of Khailaast. But Ganbold and Tungalatamir have already finished their light breakfast and are about to leave their ger – the traditional yurt of the nomads – with all the tools required to perform their illegal work. Ganbold is carrying the heavy water pump while his wife loads smaller tools into the back of their white minivan. They head for a manmade lake in the middle of the infinite steppe, where the first sunrays cover the green grass in gold... And that is exactly what the couple is looking for. They are ‘ninjas’, a nickname gold diggers get because of the large green bowl they carry on their backs, which is reminiscent of the shells of the famous comic characters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Different estimates put their current number at around 100,000, although the government says that at least 300,000 Mongolians have searched for gold at some point in their lives. That’s an astounding 10 percent of its total population. Different associations believe that they dig around five tons of the precious metal every year, yielding a huge amount of money that has sparked a war between legal mining companies and the ninjas. Most of the latter dig holes in the soil for further processing onsite, but Ganbold and Tungalatamir are too old for that, so they have chosen a different approach. “We are already past 60 years old and lack strength, so we process the mud at huge multinational mine discards. There, we can still find gold nuggets,” he says.

Mining for Gold