Artisanal gold diggers doing spade work at the Djoubissi openpit gold mine 50 km north of Bambari, a dusty town in the heart of the troubled Central African Republic (CAR). The World Trade Organisation estimates that the CAR’s mining sector accounts for 7% of the gross domestic product. Rough diamonds and timber are the leading export products in a country where subsistence farming and forestry constitute an important source of revenue for the 600 000 population, many of them at war with one another. Some 30% of the country’s diamonds and 95% of its gold leave the country secretly and not even 10% of the miners are officially registered.