Sample characteristics of participants living in the IASGM site of Kokoyo in Mali (n=224)
| Variables | n (%) |
| Gender | |
| Male | 123 (54.9) |
| Female | 101 (45.1) |
| Age †(years) | |
| Ref: 18–21 | 57 (25.4) |
| 22–26 | 60 (26.8) |
| 27–30 | 53 (23.7) |
| 30+ | 54 (24.1) |
| Main residence country | |
| Mali | 133 (59.4) |
| Other countries | 91 (40.6) |
| Marital status | |
| Married or living in a couple | 158 (70.5) |
| Single, divorced, widowed | 66 (29.5) |
| Educational level | |
| Never been to school | 110 (49.1) |
| Primary | 62 (27.7) |
| Secondary | 22 (9.8) |
| Koranic | 27 (12.1) |
| Postsecondary | 3 (1.3) |
| Category of participant | |
| Malian gold-diggers, tombolomas and other Malian workers | 130 (58) |
| Female sex workers | 27 (12,1) |
| Female non-sex workers | 54 (24,1) |
| Non-Malian gold-diggers | 13 (5,8) |
| Self-perceived health status | |
| Good health status | 133 (59,4) |
| Ref: Poor health status | 91 (40,6) |
| Weekly earnings‡ | |
| Earnings ≤ median | 112 (50) |
| Ref: Earnings > median | 112 (50) |
| Have worked in other IASGM before Kokoyo | |
| Yes | 26 (11.6) |
| No | 198 (88.4) |
IASGM, informal artisanal small-scale gold mining.
†Age categories’ cut-offs correspond to quartiles.
‡The median weekly earning is 14 500 Francs de la Communauté Financière en Afrique (FCFA) (US$25). This variable was used to account for the socioeconomic status of participants.