Social life cycle assessment of industrial gold mining in Mali

Gold mining in Mali contributes significantly to the country's socioeconomic growth, employing hundreds of people and generating considerable export revenues and income. At the same time, gold mining still has a bad reputation in public opinion due to the environmental and socioeconomic challenges it poses. It is therefore important to integrate Mali's gold mining sector into a framework of social responsibility, using the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) approach to identify and understand social opportunities and challenges. This study focuses on an application of the S-LCA approach to assess the social performance of industrial gold mining in Mali. Primary data were collected from company representatives, workers, and local communities. The results of the study show that in 85.2% of ratings, the company has at least good performance and poor performance in 14.8% of ratings. The results show also that excessive working hours, corruption, sexual harassment, and discrimination are identified as social hotspots in the gold mines in Mali. This article provides a useful addition to the literature on the application of S-LCA and for political and administrative decision-makers in the sector to promote fact-driven policies for socially profitable gold mining. Further research would be useful to address the hotspots identified, particularly with regard to the effective management of labor and the prevention of corruption and sexual harassment.