Deadly riches
At the giant Ndassima gold mine in Central African Republic, gunmen keep the peace - for a price - among hundreds of miners who swarm over the steep sides of the glittering open pit, scratching out a living.
The mine, owned by Canada's Axmin, was overrun by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels more than year ago. It now forms part of an illicit economy driving sectarian conflict in one of Africa's most unstable countries.
Prospectors work in the open-pit at the Ndassima gold mine.
A worker gestures at Ndassima gold mine.
Prospectors work in the open pit.
A man smokes as he works.
Former Seleka soldiers watch as prospectors wash extracted soil and small rocks.
A boy cleans a shovel before panning for gold.
Prospectors wash extracted soil as they pan for gold.
A prospector works at the Ndassima gold mine.
A woman hands out a sample of gold (centre) as fellow workers pan for gold.
A man shows a sample of gold at the Ndassima gold mine.
