The
Barksanem(BKS™) is using innovation to champion sustainable,
solidarity in its Artisanal Mining. The
company founded in 2011, is preparing to comeback to the mining scene to
undertake structural and strategic reorganisation, with more ambitious
objectives, initiatives, innovation, and benefits for the local population.
Proposed
products and benefits to the population
Barksanem™ as part of its License, proposes the identification, GPS tracking and organization of its mining operations through a unique mapping system. This includes the Registration, identification, and accompaniment of miners and their families. The tracking and control of minerals from the extraction until they are sold forms part of the process.
Among other
things, Barksanem intends to create a digital currency based on gold;
revitalize the barter system within the community; as well as the intensification
of training and certification, which comes with the creation of an
individualized virtual wallet.
The digital
currency thus offers the previously unbanked the opportunity to use the banking
institutions of the country, while benefiting from an individual or collective
means of payment, and in the long term, ensure health monitoring through an
individualized booklet. In order words the digital currency will be
exchangeable for paper money of different currencies within the operational jurisdiction
of the company.
One of the
principles of Barksanem™ according to its CEO Etienne Atger, is in its
slogan: "Innovation with respect to tradition". "Ultimately, while becoming a
successful mining company, the Barksanem™ License contributes to the virtuous
circle of micro-communities through mining in economic, social and
environmental terms," he stated.
Among other
advantages that will directly benefit the people, Mr. Atger cited agricultural
projects (economic alternatives for women), education, health, access to
water and sanitation, energy solutions. Mr Atger stressed that "the
registration of gold miners on Barksanem™ sites, and also elsewhere and if possible
throughout the country, will provide access to information until now very
incomplete, on a population difficult to accompany due to its mobility, its
fragility and the difficulties of integration encountered in many places in the
country, as in most countries where mining is at the heart of their
economy".
The history
of Barksanem™ goes back to the time of Upper Volta when the current CEO, Etienne Atger, then a child, lived and grew up. He traveled
regularly across the country. Later, he made many trips to West Africa, as part
of development initiatives with an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) where Séraphin Guigma, Director of Operations Barksanem™ also worked.
"Our knowledge of the field, the economic landscape, its place in the
world of gold mining and the incentive policies of the government are among the
main reasons West Africa was particularly attractive for the development of our
business" reflects Etienne Atger. He indicated that he chose to limit
himself to the establishment of ASMs or artisanal and semi-mechanized mining
and not develop a “small mining company” or an “Industrial mine”.
"The
reasons are found in our territorial approach which allows the mining activity
to intrinsically integrate with the village and mining community thus making
mining fully ingrained into the development of the territory." This would
be extremely difficult to manage in the framework of industrial mining
practices, for example" he explained.
Who is Barksanem™?
Barksanem™
is an international mining company created in 2011, which has been working to find
solutions to problems encountered in the mining space. The creation of BKS™ was
brought about after field observations and a clear vision of territorial
sustainable development, in line with the challenges of transformation
described in various international charters.
"Our
experience in the mining sector in Africa demonstrates the following: the
harvesting of subsoil wealth is too often a source of poverty, conflict,
environmental degradation symptomatic of a vicious economic circle,"
suggested Etienne Atger. Based on our research and our previous mining
experience in early 2000, BKS™ created a sister company in the USA that markets
and sells a portfolio of technologies, the Barksanem™ License, (precious
metals extraction, digital money, tracking …) targeting the economic and
environmental autonomy of
micro-communities (50 to 500 population equivalents).
“Specifically
relating to mining communities, our core target, our approach integrates the
extraction and monetization of minerals, essential support of economic
autonomy, crucial prerequisites to energy and ecological autonomy through the decontamination
of water, air, and soil. he
explained.” BKS™ optimizes the physical logistics chain linked to artisanal
mining.
The company
also deploy innovative technologies for the tracking of precious minerals,
while participating in the economic and environmental development of
micro-communities. “Our approach to monetization turns the production of ore
into a digital currency compatible with a portfolio of new services."
says Atger. The BKS™ territorial approach makes it possible to integrate
artisanal gold mining into its operations. These miners are often working on
mining sites before ever being selected by mining companies. The identification
and registration of these miners and their families facilitate the support of
artisanal gold mining, while contemporaneously fighting against recurring fraud
specific to the mining sector. Furthermore, making it possible to obtain the “Fair
Mining” certification for artisanal gold mining. "Our approach also
makes it possible for children to go back to school, proposes economic
alternatives for women, without loss of income (projects to provide access to
water and sanitation for the populations of the territories, soil remediation)
and aims to improve the artisanal practices of mining, etc." stated
the CEO of BKS™.
