Going for gold
A gold nugget glitters in the fingers of a miner, one of around 2,000 people working in the chaotic environment of a makeshift mine in Mubende district, central Uganda.
Located in a poor area with little sanitation, the mine has nonetheless attracted workers from around Uganda and elsewhere in the region. In many cases they have given up other jobs to labour in dirty and difficult conditions, as they hope to make their fortune from the gold they find.
A miner wearing a head torch glances upwards as he breaks rocks at the gold mine.
A miner labours in a dusty open pit.
Dirt cakes a miner's face.
Workers crush rocks in search of gold nuggets.
A woman hammers at the debris as she looks for gold.
A man uses a grinding machine to crush rocks before washing them with water to extract the precious metal.
A young boy washes stone dust in search of gold nuggets.
A woman washes dust in a plastic basin.
A miner holds up a piece of raw gold nugget.
Makeshift shelters, erected by the workers, stand on the mine in Lukingi village.
