Artisanal Mining Income Calculator
Estimate monthly earnings for artisanal & small-scale miners — see the income lost to informal middlemen, subtract your costs, and split the result across your team.
How is artisanal mining income calculated?
Monthly gross is your production for the month multiplied by the price per unit you enter — for example grams of gold times the price per gram. The tool then subtracts your monthly costs (equipment, fuel, transport, permits) and, if you mine as a team, splits the result by the number of people sharing. It shows monthly and annual net income per miner. Every price is your input, so a missing price is never treated as zero.
What is the formal vs informal price gap?
Artisanal miners often sell to informal middlemen at a discount to the licensed-buyer or market price. You enter the licensed price and the informal price as a percentage of it; the tool shows how much income is lost to the discount each month. That gap is the value that selling to a licensed buyer, or formalising, can recover — it is illustrative, not a guarantee.
Which minerals and countries does it cover?
It works for any artisanal mineral — gold, coltan, diamond, tin and others — because you enter the unit and price yourself. It suits ASM contexts across Africa, from galamsey gold in Ghana to coltan in the DR Congo, in any currency you choose.
Is it free and is it financial advice?
Yes, it is completely free with no signup. It is a planning estimate to help understand earnings and the cost of selling informally — it is not financial advice, and it does not endorse mining without the required licences and safety measures.