Mining Projects
Sabodala Cultural Heritage Project, Senegal
Type of Services:
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, Baseline Cultural Resources Studies
Client and Contact Information:
SRK Consulting
Oceanic Plaza, 22nd Floor
1066 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6E 3X2
Approximate Cost:
$500,000
In 2008, Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), was retained by SRK Consulting to perform cultural resource studies for an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for the Sabodala Gold Mine. The mining concession covers 230 km2 in the upper Senegal River basin of eastern Senegal. Over the next several years, SRI and its two partners, the Institut Français d’Afrique Noire (IFAN), based in Dakar, Senegal, and Nexus Heritage from the United Kingdom, completed numerous tasks, including
- background and archival research
- predictive modeling of surface and subsurface archaeological sites
- ethnographic survey of traditional tangible and intangible cultural resources
- reconnaissance archaeological survey
- intensive archaeological survey and test excavations
- geoarchaeological investigations
- ethnopedological study of traditional farmers
- artifact analysis
- archaeological monitoring
- baseline reports and cultural resource management plans
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The Sabodala Cultural Heritage Project (SCHP) represents the first major archaeological and ethnographic study of this portion of the upper Senegal River basin. We documented 300,000 years of occupation as well as provided a synthetic interpretation of local Malinké history and society. But the SCHP is much more than an academic research project; it is the first comprehensive cultural resource study ever performed in Senegal. Our objective was not simply to document and evaluate the past and present culture and cultural resources but also to assist IFAN in the development of the institutional infrastructure to perform similar studies in the future.
