InForMining search menu search content InForMining Institute of Development Policy Informining: The Informalization of Global Gold Production? This project seeks to understand structural trends in the global gold production system. It combines an analysis of macro-level changes in global gold produc…

InForMining search menu search content Publications Book Verbrugge, B., & Geenen, S. (Eds.) (2020) Global Gold Production Touching Ground. Expansion, Informalization, and Technological Innovation. London: Palgrave MacMillan. Articles/book chapters Geenen, Sara and Bikubanya, Divin-Luc (2024) Heterog…

InForMining search menu search content Informalization Mobilizing cheap, flexible, and informal labor The term informalization emerges from a critical body of scholarship, which draws attention to the ways in which global capitalism relies on the exploitation of cheap, flexible, and unregulated work…

InForMining search menu search content Images All images and videos on this project website are the exclusive property of the InForMining project. InForMining conference in the Philippines: message from a miner InForMining conference in the DRCongo The Philippines Diwalwal. Workshop participants Diw…

InForMining search menu search content Global expansion From the 'historical core' into the rest of the world While gold has been mined for thousands of years, gold production really took off in the nineteenth century, with gold rushes in the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, and South Afric…

InForMining search menu search content Technological innovation From cyanide revolution to digital revolution Throughout the history of gold mining, technological innovation have allowed miners to increase value-to-volume ratios, and to target deposits that were previously deemed unprofitable. These…

InForMining search menu search content Research Team The University of Antwerp team Prof. Dr. Sara Geenen (Promoter) Sara is an associate professor in Globalization at the Institute of Development Policy (IOB), University of Antwerp, Belgium. She is the promoter of this project. Dr. Boris Verbrugge …

InForMining search menu search content Science communication Heterogeneity and labour agency Sara Geenen and Divin-Luc Bikubanya used InForMining data for the article Heterogeneity and Labour Agency in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo that was published in De…

InForMining search menu search content Gold Mining Crystallizations Global gold production touching ground Through country case studies, this project seeks to understand how the global gold production system 'crystallizes' in particular places. More precisely, the case studies analyze how the struct…

InForMining search menu search content About the Project Informining: The Informalization of Global Gold Production? This project seeks to understand structural trends in the global gold production system. It combines an analysis of macro-level changes in global gold production (global expansion, in…

Institute of Development Policy search menu search content InForMining The informalization of global gold production? This project seeks to understand structural trends in the global gold production system. It combines an analysis of macro-level changes in global gold production (global expansion, i…

InForMining search menu search content Trends in global gold production While gold demand and gold prices are at an all-time high, global gold production is facing a number of systemic challenges related to declining gold reserves, societal resistance, and rising costs. The global gold production sy…

Sara Geenen hoogleraar Onderzoek Sara Geenen Onderzoeksgroep Ontwikkeling: processen, actoren en beleid Expertise Natuurlijke rijkdommen, goudmijnbouw, global value chains, mondiale productienetwerken, MVO & standaarden, arbeid, informele economie, hybriede bestuur Nodale beheer en coöperaties als …

Sara Geenen professor Research Sara Geenen Research team Development processes, actors and policies Expertise Extractive industries, natural resources, gold mining, global value chains, global production networks, CSR & standards, labour, informal economy, hybrid governance Nodal governance & cooper…

Institute of Development Policy search menu search content Past projects Overview of past projects at IOB TruePATH InForMining: the informalization of global gold production? Artisanal mining and industrial mining in Eastern DR Congo Constitution building in the African Union Hybrid governance in mi…

Great Lakes of Africa Centre search menu search content Research posters In their research, GLAC members cover a wide variety of topics, focusing on one or more countries or the entire Great Lakes region. This series of online research posters provides a one-page overview of the research carried out…

Sara Geenen professor Research Sara Geenen Project websites DRIVING CHANGE. Putting small-scale producers in the driver's seat of mineral supply chain regulation HEALTH. Health in artisanal and small-scale gold mining HANDMADE. From handmade gravel to handmade urbanism. Humans, nature and materials …

Sara Geenen professor Education Sara Geenen PhD students Ongoing Yanan Zhang, PhD student at IOB Eric Lubangu, PhD student in the VLIR IUC project with Université de Lubumbashi Espérant Mwishamali, PhD student at the Department of Criminology, UGent Joseph Bahati Mukulu, PhD student in the VLIR TE…

Antwerp Interdisciplinary Platform for Research into Inequality search menu search content Associated members Moisés Kopper Moisés Kopper is a Research Professor (TTZAPBOF) at the Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp, where he directs the data lab “InfoCitizen,” an interdisci…

Institute of Development Policy search menu search content Analyses and Policy Briefs Analyses and Policy Briefs are crisp and sharp briefs that offer analysis and/or policy recommendations, and generally make reference to more extensive IOB research outputs. These are typically two- or four-pagers …

Institute of Development Policy search menu search content Projects Ongoing projects Award of the Research Board 2025 - Award Deleeck: Social Sciences and Humanities. 01/12/2025 - 31/12/2026 Abstract Award of the Research Board 2025 - Award Deleeck: Social Sciences and Humanities. This project inves…

Institute of Development Policy search menu search content Working Papers The IOB Working Paper Series (ISSN 2294-8643) seeks to stimulate the timely exchange of ideas about development issues, by offering a forum to get findings out quickly, even in a less than fully polished form. The IOB Working …