Explore the vast range of titles available.

In 1896, a small group of prospectors discovered a stunningly rich pocket of gold at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, and in the following two years thousands of individuals traveled to the area, hoping to find wealth in a rugged and challenging setting. Ever since that time, the Klondike Gold Rush - especially as portrayed in photographs of long lines of gold seekers marching up Chilkoot Pass - has had a hold on the popular imagination. In this first environmental history of the gold rush, Kathryn Morse describes how the miners got to the Klondike, the mining technologies they employed, and the complex networks by which they obtained food, clothing, and tools. She looks at the political and economic debates surrounding the valuation of gold and the emerging industrial economy that exploited its extraction in Alaska, and explores the ways in which a web of connections among America s transportation, supply, and marketing industries linked miners to other industrial and agricultural laborers across the country. The profound economic and cultural transformations that supported the Alaska-Yukon gold rush ultimately reverberate to modern times. The story Morse tells is often narrated through the diaries and letters of the miners themselves. The daunting challenges of traveling, working, and surviving in the raw wilderness are illustrated not only by the miners compelling accounts but by newspaper reports and advertisements. Seattle played a key role as gateway to the Klondike. A public relations campaign lured potential miners to the West and local businesses seized the opportunity to make large profits while thousands of gold seekers streamed through Seattle. The drama of the miners journeys north, their trials along the gold creeks, and their encounters with an extreme climate will appeal not only to scholars of the western environment and of late-19th-century industrialism, but to readers interested in reliving the vivid adventure of the West s last great gold rush.

An outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 caused by the Gamma variant of concern infected 24/44 (55%) employees of a gold mine in French Guiana (87% symptomatic, no severe forms). The attack rate was 60% (15/25) among fully vaccinated miners and 75% (3/4) among unvaccinated miners without a history of infection.

Background In French Guiana (FG), artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) workers represent mobile, hard-to-reach population with high malaria burden. Limited access to rapid diagnostic test (RDT) delays treatment, favours inappropriate use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), and increases transmission and resistance risk. The Malakit intervention enables ASGM workers to self-diagnose and self-treat using RDTs and ACT in a free kit distributed by community health workers (CHWs) after a dedicated training session. This cross-sectional study assessed the praticability of the Bioline Malaria Ag P.f/P.f/P.v RDT among ASGM workers. Methods During Malakit training sessions, an independent observer evaluated participants’ knowledge of RDT use, ability to perform self-testing, and ability to interpret results. Each assessment was conducted using a specific tool and quantified with a corresponding sub-score, which were then combined in an overall practicability score. Associations with socio-demographic characteristics were explored using multiple linear regressions. Results From May to June 2024 forty participants were enrolled in Oiapoque, Brazil. The male-to-female sex ratio was 2.64 and median age 37 years [IQR 31.8-48.8]; 27.5% had no formal education. Following training, mean scores were: knowledge 83.9% [CI95 79.6–88.2], practice 84.6% [CI95 78.3–90.9] without assistance (100% with guidance) and interpretation 77.2% [CI95 70.7–83.8]. All RDTs performed yielded valid result. Correct interpretation rates were 96.0% [CI95 92.4–99.6] for positive strips, 70.0% [CI95 55.2–84.8] for negative strips, and 65.8% [CI95 56.6–75.0] for invalid strips. The overall practicability score was 81.9% [CI95 78.3–85.6]. In practice, all obtained a valid test (presence of the control strip). Conclusions The study demonstrated the practicability of malaria self-testing among non-professional users after structured training, with ASGM workers achieving an overall practicability score of 81.9%. Participants successfully performed RDTs (100% valid results with guidance) and accurately interpreted positive results (96.0%). This methodology provides a replicable framework for evaluating self-diagnostic strategies in hard-to-reach populations and supports integration of community-based malaria diagnosis into elimination programmes.

In almost any industry, the day-to-day lived experiences of workers directly shape production processes. Those experiences are of fundamental importance to a range of managerial concerns including organisational behaviour and human resource management, organisational safety and risk management, production systems, work relations and change management. Yet they are too often overlooked by the executives and managers who design management strategies. In this book, Sizwe Phakathi addresses such issues head-on, providing insights into the underlying social, human, managerial and organisational processes that shape workers' orientations towards reorganisation of work, production, safety, teamwork and work relations. Through an in-depth study of a deep-level mining workplace, Phakathi brings to the fore the realities of how work processes shape the actions of frontline teams, production supervisors and managers. He points out how these realities trigger the informal work practice of making a plan, which is an indispensable organisational tactic for production, safety, teamwork and work relations in the mining workplace. In the process, he highlights frontline miners' perspectives of managing, balancing and coping with the competing demands of physically challenging work, production, safety and team dynamics while at the rock-face. This book will help practitioners, policy-makers and researchers to understand the factors influencing work processes, production, safety, teamwork and work relations - not only in a mining workplace but more generally as well. The insights it provides into the importance of day-to-day lived working experiences will help them to improve organisational, employee and team performance.

People employ various methods to extract gold in the rainforests of the Chocó, in northwest Colombia: Rural Afro-Colombian artisanal miners work hillsides with hand tools or dredge mud from river bottoms. Migrant miners level the landscape with excavators, then trap gold with mercury. Canadian mining companies prospect for open-pit mega-mines. Drug traffickers launder cocaine profits by smuggling gold into Colombia and claiming it came from fictitious small-scale mines. Through an ethnography of gold that examines the movement of people, commodities, and capital, Shifting Livelihoods investigates how resource extraction reshapes a place. In the Chocó, gold enables forms of \"shift\" (rebusque)-a metaphor for the fluid livelihood strategy adopted by forest dwellers and migrant gold miners alike as they seek informal work amid a drug war. Mining's effects on rural people, corporations, and politics are on view in this fine-grained account of daily life in a regional economy dominated by gold and cocaine.

When brothers Ethan and Hosea Grosh left Pennsylvania in 1849, they joined throngs of men from all over the world intent on finding a fortune in the California Gold Rush. Their search for wealth took them from San Francisco into the gold country and then over the Sierra into Nevada's Gold Canyon, where they placer-mined for gold and discovered a deposit of silver. The letters they sent back to their family offer vivid commentaries on the turbulent western frontier, the diverse society of the Gold Rush camps, and the heartbreaking labor and frustration of mining. Their lively descriptions of Gold Canyon provide one of the earliest accounts of life in what would soon become the fabulously wealthy Comstock Mining District. The Groshes' letters are rich in color and important historical details. Generously annotated and with an introduction that provides a context for the brothers' career and the setting in which they tried to make their fortune, these documents powerfully depict the often harsh realities of Gold Rush life and society.

Background Mining in the Amazon exposes gold miners to various diseases, including malaria, whose control is still a major challenge. The environment of the mines contributes to the proliferation of vector mosquitoes and the precarious housing conditions facilitate transmission of the disease. Understanding gold miners’ perceptions is essential for the formulation of strategies to fight malaria. A qualitative study was carried out in the municipality of Calçoene, state of Amapá, Brazilian Amazon adjointining the municipality of Oiapoque, that is in the border area with French Guiana and Suriname. Methods A semi-structured interview was applied to an intentional sample of 29 miners, a number determined by the theoretical saturation criterion. Thematic analysis was adopted to obtain the results and the Cohen's Kappa index was calculated to verify the agreement between observers during coding. Results The agreement between observers was verified by a Cohen's Kappa index of 0.82. Analysis of the interviews showed that gold miners were subjected to prejudice from the community due to forest diseases that they can transmit, and their activities are often associated with crime. When the miners return to their hometown after a period of mining, the urban population blames them for the onset of diseases such as malaria. Most participants in the survey did not know how malaria transmission occurs, and associated its occurrence with contaminated water and food. Participants reported not being afraid of the disease, trusting the diagnosis and available treatment, though this depends on where they are treated. The use of therapeutic resources, such as medicinal plants and medicines acquired in the illegal market, is very common in this population. Despite the challenges identified by the research subjects, they believe that the disease can be controlled, or the cases reduced, but there was low acceptability for a possible mass drug administration (MDA) intervention. Conclusion Despite a recent reduction in malaria prevalence in Brazil, there are still vulnerable populations, such as gold miners, who help to perpetuate the existence of the disease in the Amazon. The lack of knowledge regarding how the transmission of malaria occurs, associated with myths regarding this and the use of traditional health practices and illegal drugs for the treatment of the disease without a specific diagnosis, jeopardizes the country’s efforts to eliminate malaria. It is necessary to implement control programmes in these populations, especially those who frequently travel around the border region and to remote locations, which are difficult regions for health teams to access, thus hindering diagnostic and treatment actions. For this reason, understanding the perceptions of these individuals as well as their customs, beliefs and lifestyle, can assist in the production of targeted educational material and adoption of strategies in the elimination of malaria in the country.

Background Although Guyana has made significant progress toward malaria control, limited access to malaria testing and treatment services threatens those gains. Mining activities create breeding environments for mosquitoes, and the migrant and mobile mining populations are hard to reach with information and services. The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has trained volunteers to test and treat malaria cases in remote regions. However, it remains unclear how miners perceive these testers, the services they provide, or what their malaria care-seeking behaviour is in general. To better address these challenges, Breakthrough ACTION Guyana and MoPH conducted qualitative research from October to November 2018 in Regions 7 and 8 in Guyana. Methods A total of 109 individuals, 70 miners, 17 other mining camp staff, and 22 other key stakeholders (e.g. community health workers, pharmacists, and regional leadership), participated in semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Results were derived using a framework analysis, with an adjusted doer and non-doer analysis, and organized using the integrated behaviour framework. Results Miners sought MoPH-approved services because of close geographic proximity to testing services, a preference for public service treatment, and a desire to correctly diagnose and cure malaria rather than just treat its symptoms. Those who chose to initiate self-treatment—using unregulated medications from the private and informal sector—did so out of convenience and the belief that self-treatment had worked before. Miners who completed the full MoPH-approved treatment understood the need to complete the treatment, while those who prematurely stopped treatment did so because of medication side effects and a desire to feel better as soon as possible. Conclusion Reasons why miners do and do not pursue malaria testing and treatment services are diverse. These results can inform better MoPH programming and new solutions to improve malaria outcomes in Guyana.

Despite being a priority population in malaria elimination, there is scant literature on malaria-related behavior among gold miners. This study explores the prevalence and factors influencing malaria prevention, care seeking and treatment behaviors in Guyana gold mining camps. A cross sectional survey was conducted among adult gold miners living in mining camps in the hinterland Regions 1 (Barima-Waini), 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), and 8 (Potaro-Siparuni). Multivariable logistic regressions explored factors associated with miners’ self-report of mosquito net use, prompt care-seeking; self-medication; and testing for malaria. A third of miners used a mosquito net the night preceding the survey and net use was higher among those who believed that net use was the norm in their camp (aOR: 3.11; 95% CI:1.65, 5.88). Less than half (45%) of miners had a fever in the past 12 months, among whom 36% sought care promptly, 48% tested positive for malaria while 54% self-medicated before seeking care. Prompt care-seeking was higher among miners with high malaria knowledge (aOR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.01, 2.05). Similarly, testing rates increased with secondary education (aOR: 1.71; 95% CI: (1.16, 2.51), high malaria knowledge (aOR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.02, 2.05), positive beliefs regarding malaria transmission, threat, self-diagnosis, testing and treatment, and, trust in government services (aOR: 1.59; 95% CI (1.12, 2.27) and experience of a prior malaria episode (aOR: 2.62; 95% CI: 1.71, 4.00). Self-medication was lower among male miners (aOR: 0. 52; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.86). Malaria prevention and care seeking behaviors among miners are somewhat low and influenced by mosquito net usage, perceived norms, malaria knowledge and prior episode of confirmed malaria. Study findings have implications for malaria interventions in the hinterland regions of Guyana such as the mass and continuous distribution of insecticide treated nets as well as community case management initiatives using trained malaria testing and treatment volunteers to curb malaria transmission among remote gold mining populations. These include efforts to identify and address gaps in distributing mosquito nets to miners and address miners’ barriers to prompt care seeking, malaria testing and treatment adherence. Targeted social and behavior change messaging is needed on net acquisition, use and care, prompt care-seeking, malaria testing and treatment adherence. Additional efforts to ensure the overall sustainability of the community case management initiative include increased publicity of the community case management initiative among miners, use of incentives to promote retention rates among the community case management volunteer testers and public private partnerships between the Guyana Ministry of Health and relevant mining organizations.

Background Despite a significant reduction in the burden of malaria in the last decades, the disease remains a significant global public health threat. Community perception, knowledge, and practices are key determinants in malaria transmission. Mudzi is a border district in Zimbabwe, characterized by persistent malaria transmission despite having high indoor residual spraying coverages that meet the World Health Organization (WHO) indoor residual spraying (IRS) coverage thresholds. Human socio-economic behavioural factors driving persistent transmission have not been documented. Methods A mixed-methods cross-sectional study was conducted to establish knowledge, practices, and perceptions among Artisanal Gold Miners (AGMs) and Community members (CMs). Two active artisanal mining sites and catchment villages were purposively selected for this study. Malaria RDT test kits and blood slide examinations by microscopy were used to establish malaria parasitaemia prevalence. Data were collected via Kobo Collect and analysed using Microsoft Excel to generate frequencies and analyse for statistical differences. Results A total of 128 AGMs and 113 CMs were recruited. 277 individuals were tested for malaria using RDT and blood smear microscopy. Responses showed good knowledge of the cause and transmission of malaria. However, low risk perception and misconception among AGMs and CMs were observed. There was no significant difference concerning education, knowledge, and perceptions between AGMs and CMs. AGM predominantly lived in the open without protective measures for long periods. Community members and artisanal miners (AGMS) showed high preferences and utilisation of standard care offered through health facilities and community health workers (CHW). The majority of AGMs and CMs received health education from HCWs. Malaria prevalence across the groups was less than 1%. Conclusion High knowledge of malaria is not translating into preventative behaviour and high-risk perception among AGMs and CMs. There is a need to create innovative health education interventions that motivate individuals to increase risk perception and behaviour modification. Communities are likely to prioritize survival over malaria avoidance practices, therefore, an integrated intervention that addresses livelihoods and malaria prevention needs to be developed.