Illegal mining: Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire's gold-bearing interior draws unlicensed extraction that strips a strategic resource, funds armed networks and poisons rivers with mercury. Illegal sites open in remote terrain far from the road network, increasingly in the same northern regions exposed to Sahel instability, where the state can neither see nor easily reach them.
Extraction the state cannot see or reach
Unlicensed pits open beyond the road network and often run for months before they are large enough to notice from the ground, by which time they have become a fixed local economy that is hard to dislodge. Observation satellites provide the change-detection layer, comparing imagery over time to reveal new clearings, spoil heaps and access tracks as they appear, so a site is flagged while it is still small enough to close. Modular aerial platform kits then give the pattern-of-life detail a single satellite pass cannot resolve.
Sustaining teams far from any Ivorian road
The harder problem is keeping a site closed once a patrol withdraws: getting an enforcement patrol to a suspected site across trackless interior can take longer than the miners need to disperse, and a closed site reopens the moment the patrol leaves. Persistent aerial monitoring keeps a closed site under watch far from any road, so a closure holds rather than quietly reopening once the ground is left unwatched. Because illegal mining in Côte d'Ivoire's north overlaps with the smuggling and armed-group corridors along the frontier, the same overhead surveillance also feeds the broader security picture.
How engagement works in Côte d'Ivoire
All three capabilities come from independent, non-aligned makers represented directly by Unstrat, so the surveillance record and the resupply chain belong to the Ivorian government and are not contingent on an external partner's schedule. One accountable team runs the programme from a national survey by satellite change detection through persistent coverage to sovereign, in-region operation, building the capacity to keep a closed site closed rather than staging a one-off clearance.
Building the capacity to keep a closed site closed
An illegal-mining engagement opens by briefing the mines ministry and security forces on the gold-bearing interior and the remote, roadless terrain where unlicensed pits open, then confirming end use and clearing the export-control position for the observation satellites and modular aerial platform kits before any representation. Capability is matched to real conditions: the reach of enforcement patrols, the pattern-of-life detail a site demands, the persistent monitoring needed to keep a closed site under watch. The aim is a closure that sticks rather than a one-off clearance. Delivery is phased from a national change-detection survey to persistent coverage of active and closed sites, with localisation arrangements scoped per programme, subject to export controls and end-use approvals. One accountable team carries it into in-region sustainment, so the state can protect a strategic resource and its rivers under its own command through a long mission.
Relevant capability
Adjacent priorities in Côte d'Ivoire
Illegal logging erodes a strategic natural resource and often finances organised crime. Satellite change detection reveals clearing as it begins, and aerial surveillance directs rangers to active sites across terrain no ground patrol can cover alone.
Problem pageTapping, bunkering and sabotage of oil infrastructure drain national revenue and cause environmental damage. Persistent overhead surveillance detects illegal connections and vessel movements, while control-system hardening protects the pipeline network itself.
Problem pageOperating across deserts, forests and archipelagos strands units beyond the reach of infrastructure. Communications that work beyond fixed networks and security for disconnected systems keep remote operations connected and defended at the far edge.
Problem pageRelevant solutions
Côte d'Ivoire: security context
Côte d'Ivoire's priorities centre on its coast and gateways: securing its stretch of the Gulf of Guinea, monitoring its borders, and protecting the ports through which its trade flows. It is an environment where maritime awareness and commercial security are inseparable.
An accountable single-channel engagement gives Côte d'Ivoire a coherent counterpart for that security, Gulf of Guinea security, border monitoring and port protection, with disciplined export-control and end-user handling. A security agency gains end-use certified equipment and localisation arrangements scoped per programme, subject to export controls and end-use approvals.
About this challenge
Unlicensed extraction strips national resources, funds armed groups and devastates the environment. Satellite change detection and persistent aerial surveillance locate illegal sites and monitor remediation, directing enforcement teams to the ground that is actually changing.
Frequently asked questions
How can Côte d'Ivoire find illegal gold mines it does not already know about?
Through satellite change detection. Observation satellites compare imagery of the same terrain over time and flag new clearings, spoil heaps and access tracks the moment they appear, so a site is discovered while it is still small, rather than after it has grown large enough to see from the ground.
Why does keeping a mining site closed in the interior take more than a single raid?
Because illegal sites sit far beyond the road network, a patrol can reach one but rarely stay. Persistent aerial monitoring keeps the site under watch after a patrol withdraws, so a closure holds long enough to stick instead of quietly reopening the moment the ground is left unwatched.
Can surveillance confirm that a shut-down mining site stays closed?
Yes. The same observation satellites and modular aerial platform kits used to detect a site provide the record to monitor it afterwards. Recurring imagery shows whether extraction has resumed, giving the ministry evidence that a remediation order is being honoured rather than quietly ignored.