Gendered informal gold trading in Indonesia: Case studies from Central Kalimantan

• The study reveals that gold trading in informal, artisanal and small-scale gold mining is gendered due to unequal power relations between women and men who operate in different parts of the value chain network. • There are multiple challenges found at the research locations of Pudu Jaya and Rangan Tate, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia to promote more formalised gold trading and these also due to larger-scale ASM governance and legal issues in Indonesia. • The study has used the field data to generate insights into how the gold trading system can move towards formalization with specific attention placed on the needs of women. • The study contributes to the literature on women in artisanal and small-scale mining. This paper examines the gendered aspects of informal gold trading along the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) value chain in Indonesia. Indonesian law allows ASGM to be carried out by individuals, groups, families or cooperatives with limited investment and capital. However, only a very small percentage of ASGM activities are licensed, resulting in gold being traded predominantly within informal networks. The authors carried out a study of artisanal gold mining in two mining sites in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Primary data from the field were collected during COVID-19 in the form of semi-structured interviews and participatory data collection methods such as gender mapping and business analysis. This paper argues that gold trading in informal, artisanal, and small-scale gold mining is gendered as a function of unequal power relations between women and men who operate in different parts of the ASGM value chain network.