Urban Miner Smoking At Agbogbloshie, Ghana

…the smoke choked the men manning the front line. Three months war, William Hendon “…the smoke choked the men manning the front line.” — William Hendon I caught up with this Agbogbloshie ‘burner boy’ holding freshly recovered copper wires and smoking a cigarette against the backdrop of heavy toxic smoke heading for Accra Central. Urban Miner Puffing On A Cigarette At Agbogbloshie Urban […]

April 5, 2020

Muntaka Chasant

April 5, 2020

14 Min read time

A 'burner boy' holding freshly recovered copper wires and smoking a cigarette at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. Agbogbloshie 'burner boys' use styrofoam packaging and scrap tires as fuel to burn insulated copper wires in the open to reclaim the copper materials inside. This is a major source of air pollution Accra, Ghana's capital city. © 2019 Muntaka Chasant

…the smoke choked the men manning the front line.
Three months war, William Hendon

“…the smoke choked the men manning the front line.” — William Hendon

I caught up with this Agbogbloshie ‘burner boy’ holding freshly recovered copper wires and smoking a cigarette against the backdrop of heavy toxic smoke heading for Accra Central.

Urban Miner Puffing On A Cigarette At Agbogbloshie

Urban Miner Smoking / Agbogbloshie, Ghana. © 2019 Muntaka Chasant — A ‘burner boy’ smoking at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. ‘Burner boys’ at Agbogbloshie openly burns electrical wires to recover the copper materials inside. This pollutes the soil, the Korle Lagoon, and Accra’s air. © 2019 Muntaka Chasant

A 'burner boy' holding freshly recovered copper wires and smoking a cigarette at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. Agbogbloshie 'burner boys' use styrofoam packaging and scrap tires as fuel to burn insulated copper wires in the open to reclaim the copper materials inside. This is a major source of air pollution Accra, Ghana's capital city. © 2019 Muntaka Chasant — A ‘burner boy’ holding freshly recovered copper wires and smoking a cigarette at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. Agbogbloshie ‘burner boys’ use styrofoam packaging and scrap tires as fuel to burn insulated copper wires in the open to reclaim the copper materials inside. This is a major source of air pollution Accra, Ghana’s capital city. © 2019 Muntaka Chasant

Urban miners at Agbogbloshie use styrofoam packaging and scrap tires as fuel to openly burn electrical wires to reclaim the copper materials inside. The recovered copper materials are carted away, weighted, and sold for instant cash.

The price of copper at Agbogbloshie as of March 2020 was around GH₵10 (roughly $1.7 at that time) per pound.

Photo of Urban Miner Burning Electrical Wires At Agbogbloshie, Ghana

Awal is an 'experienced' burner boy. He's burning electrical wires to recover the copper materials inside at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant — Awal is an ‘experienced’ burner boy. He is burning electrical wires to recover the copper materials inside at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. The reclaimed copper are carted away and sold for instant cash. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

The photo above shows the electrical wires burning process at Agbogbloshie.

Here’s another one of a burner boy displaying freshly recovered copper.

A 'burner boy' displaying freshly recovered copper wires at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. A pound of copper at Agbogbloshie sold for around GH₵10 (roughly $1.7 at that time) as of March 2020. © 2019 Muntaka Chasant — A ‘burner boy’ displaying freshly recovered copper wires at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. A pound of copper at Agbogbloshie sold for around GH₵10 (roughly $1.7 at that time) as of March 2020. © 2019 Muntaka Chasant

The burning of the wires at Agbogbloshie is a widely documented problem. This pollutes the land, the nearby Korle Lagoon, and the city’s air. Read more about this problem in the link below:

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