PHOTO ESSAY: Liberia's largest gold miner and community tensions

JIKANDOR, Liberia — The announcement posted in the village has a cheerful tone: “BMMC is pleased to inform you that there will be a blast” at a mining pit nearby.

Residents told visiting journalists with The Associated Press and The Gecko Project that such explosions have cracked or crumbled homes during the operations of Liberia’s largest gold miner, the Bea Mountain Mining Corporation.

The journalists’ investigation into the company found multiple spills of cyanide and other toxic chemicals by its largest mine into waterways, incidents documented by Liberia’s environmental regulators in reports that were removed from public view.

But concerns go beyond the spills. The mining operation also has cleared 2,200 hectares (5,436 acres) of rain forest, an area six times the size of New York’s Central Park. Such forests are home to endangered species, including pygmy hippos and Western chimpanzees.

Half of Liberia’s forested area is covered by proposed or active mining licenses for Bea Mountain or other firms, according to a report last year by the nonprofit Forest Trends.

In villages near the largest Bea Mountain mine, other grievances emerged. Some residents asserted that the mining company had failed to deliver on promised training to help villagers obtain senior management positions in its operations.

Residents recalled the anger that spilled over in 2024 in protests against the mining operations that they said police ended with tear gas and deadly force. One woman showed what she said was a scar on her scalp from a tear gas canister.

“The blood was coming down and I fell unconscious,” Satta Surtual said. Police denied using excessive force.

These are the tensions that often underlay mining operations across the African continent, where experts say regulation and oversight can be weak.