Looming Battle for Karamoja’s Gold

A miner uses a metal stick to loosen the dirt, which she will later mix with water and sift for gold, March 2, 2014. (Hilary Heuler for VOA)

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A Karimojong couple mine in a hole they dug by hand, March 2, 2014. (Hilary Heuler for VOA)

Two artisanal miners dig a pit in a dry riverbed in Karamoja, Uganda, March 2, 2014. (Hilary Heuler for VOA)

Water pipes laid by a large mining company conducting exploration in Karamoja, Uganda, March 2, 2014. (Hilary Heuler for VOA)

The Karimojong are traditionally semi-nomadic pastoralists, but their herds are fast disappearing, driving people into mining, March 2, 2014. (Hilary Heuler for VOA)

A gold nugget artisanal miners found in a dry riverbed, March 2, 2014. (Hilary Heuler for VOA)

A Karimojong woman pans for gold using two plastic basins, March 2, 2014. Hilary Heuler / VOA News

The Karimojong are traditionally semi-nomadic pastoralists, but drought and disease have taken a toll on their herds, March 2, 2014. (Hilary Heuler for VOA)

Simon Nangiro, head of the Karamoja Miners Association, in his office in Moroto, Uganda, March 3, 2014. (Hilary Heuler for VOA)