Small-Scale Miner Faces Compliance Challenges in Formalizing Operations
Emmanuel Pregnon, a small-scale miner in Africa, is struggling to formalize his mining operations due to the high costs of compliance audits. Despite holding a local mining license and having the capacity to organize informal miners into a cooperative, the financial burden of a third-party compliance audit, which can cost between $50,000 to $100,000, is prohibitive. This prevents him from accessing formal export markets and integrating informal miners into a traceable supply chain. The current compliance frameworks, designed for larger multinational corporations, do not accommodate small operators like Emmanuel, who are crucial for formalizing artisanal mining activities. 
