Title: El Dorado in West Africa : the gold-mining frontier, African labor, and colonial capitalism in the Gold Coast, 1875-1900 /
Authors: Dumett, Raymond E.
Publisher: Ohio University Press ; J. Currey,
Year: 1998
Subjects: Gold mines and mining Ghana History; Gold miners Ghana History; Capitalism Ghana History
Abstract: "El Dorado in West Africa explores the first modern gold rush of Ghana in all its dimensions - land, labor, capital, traditional African mining, technology, transport, management, the clash of cultures, and colonial rule. The rich tapestry of events is textured with unexpected ironies and paradoxes." "Professor Dumett tells the story of the expatriate-led gold boom of 1875-1900 against the background of colonial capitalism. Through the use of field interviews, he also brings to light the expansion of a parallel "African gold-mining frontier," which outpaced the expatriate mining sector."--Jacket.
Contents: Introduction -- Geological structures and the location of gold in Ghana -- Traditional gold mining in the Southwestern Akan Region -- Thw Wassa "Gold Rush" of 1877-1885 -- Barriers to gold production in the 1880s -- The colonial government and the expanding miners' frontier -- Overcoming the odds -- Retrospect and aftermath.