Artisanal miners in Turkana county have received a crushing macine from the county government.
Artisanal miners at the Lolupe and Naduat gold mining sites in Turkana North received the donated machine as part of the county government's efforts to support the sector.
County director for mineral resources Stella Opakas said the donation would save miners the cost of having to hire a crushing machine, thus reducing their overhead.
“The machine performs the herculean task of stone crushing from which residual deposits of gold are extracted. It will also reduce the energy needed during manual stone crushing," she said.
Opakas said the donation came through chairman's office of the Turkana County Association of Artisanal miners with firm instructions to prioritise women in artisanal mining. He said it was necessary to boost their participation.
Joseph Ekiru, the chairman of the County Artisanal Miners Association, promised to ensure equity in access to and use of the machine by all association members.
Ekiru urged the county to take advantage of the large deposits of many minerals to encourage more people to join the sector.
(Edited by V. Graham)
