Africa Mining Watch
Mapping the spread of illegal mining across Africa
You can't stop what you can't see. Join us to create data for people working to stop mining harm to human health and the environment.
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THE PROBLEM
Illegal and unregulated mining operations across Africa cause devastating damage to the environment and human health, destroying forests, contaminating water sources, and displacing communities. Yet the sheer scale and variety of the continent’s geology makes monitoring these activities nearly impossible with traditional methods.
THE SOLUTION
Africa Mining Watch is changing that. By combining accessible cutting-edge AI with satellite imagery, we’re collectively building the first comprehensive, open dataset of illegal mining activity across Africa to make the invisible visible and putting actionable data in the hands of journalists, researchers, and policymakers.
HOW IT WORKS
1. Scan
Earth Index processes satellite imagery across targeted regions of Africa, analyzing multispectral data to detect surface-level changes invisible to the human eye.
2. Detect
Multiple AI models are trained to identify different types of mining operations across diverse landscapes, from artisanal mining to large-scale industrial extraction.
3. Synthesize
Individual model outputs are combined into one unified dataset, validated against ground-truth data and expert knowledge to ensure accuracy and completeness.
4. Act
The resulting open dataset powers conservation projects, investigative journalism, policy advocacy, community action, and environmental enforcement across the continent.
Access our early data
We‘ve already made our initial dataset public, featuring mining sites in Ghana. You can find it here. If you’re interested in using our data for your own research, please get in touch. We would love to work together as the project continues to grow.
Upcoming mapathon
We’re hosting a mapathon in April 2026. This is a chance to work with our data and help us build out the project. Participants will be working with Deep Search, a new feature of Earth Index designed to super-charge your search results. If you’re interested in participating, please get in touch!
African Mining Watch Knowledge Toolkit
Get a deep dive into mining across Africa and explore the environmental and social impacts of illegal mining. This toolkit is a collection of resources and tools to help you understand the root of the issues.
From the team behind Amazon Mining Watch
The team at Earth Genome has extensive experience in mining and environmental monitoring in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center and Amazon Conservation Association, having worked on the Amazon Mining Watch project for years. We're excited to bring the lessons we've learned to another continent.
