Perceptions socio-culturelles du recours aux pratiques magico-religieuses chez les orpailleurs sur le site aurifère artisanal de M’banga au Niger

Gold is a precious metal. In Niger, artisanal gold mining is a practice that leads to a rush of gold seekers to the gold sites. Every gold seeker goes to these sites in search of gold. This article examines the socio-cultural perceptions of the use of magico-religious practices by gold panners at the M’banga artisanal gold mining site. Based on qualitative research, M’banga provided the framework for analysis. The research questions are: How do gold miners perceive gold on the M’banga artisanal gold mining site? What are the magico-religious practices of the gold miners, based on different ethnolinguistic traits? The hypothesis is that the mystical dimension of gold is one of the reasons for the different perceptions of gold miners at the M’banga artisanal gold mining site. At the end of this study, the results obtained reveal that gold is perceived differently by gold miners depending on their cultural identity. However, the way gold miners perceive gold is linked to unorthodox practices that give rise to religious syncretism.