TITLE: Bantaco's gold

Bantaco is one of the many scattered villages in the bush in the Kedougou region of Senegal close to the border of Mali, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau. This region is a real crossroads for the different populations of passage in Senegal. Several decades ago, Bantaco had only three hundred inhabitants whereas today they are nearly four thousand, This growth is explained by the discovery in the basement of the village of a precious mineral: gold .

The extraction of gold is done in a traditional way, at the family level in disregard of the basic rules of safety and protection of the environment. To go down in the mine, a simple rope and the strength of the arms. Down below, the casing is so narrow that only one man can work on it, his back leaning against the wall, with his only light being that of his frontal. It is by the strength of the arms that the pieces of rock are brought to the surface where other arms will seize them to crush them, reduce them to powder, mix them with water, then with the help of mercury. finally separate the precious ore from the rock

Bantaco is an immense anthill that resonates all day long with the clatter of hammer and chisel blows in the rock. The relentless sun leaves no respite to tired organisms.

Covered with dust, the men and women of Bantaco are busy however to recover the few grams of gold that will serve them just to ensure the daily expenditure and the purchase of staples. If they continue to lead a life of modern-day convict under this screed of lead, it is that the dream is there, omnipresent, that to discover the good vein, which will make them rich, will allow them to build a house made of hard and buy a car, supreme luxury.

Cassa was my guide, from a minor family, also a miner, from a very young age. His family had the chance to raise several hundred grams of gold at once, a few years ago. Cassa is living proof that this dream can come true, he has a house, a car, and today makes miners work for him. Hope gives life to Bantaco.

AUTHOR: Antoine Merlet (France)

Photographer based in Lyon Antoine Merlet's work focuses on others. Truly challenged by human nature and very curious, Antoine seeks to understand, before telling the daily life of people that we do not necessarily see, or at least, that we do not rub shoulders every day.

Sports training, Antoine evolves in the medium of photography little by little. First as an amateur on sports events, landscapes, portraits, studio ..., then as a professional for agencies, individuals, sports federations, magazines ... Antoine s' is interested in photo reporting that gives him the way he wants to work. Taking a picture and submitting it was somewhat "empty" depending on the situation, Antoine feels the need to tell more widely, and in more detail a story.