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The Mande gold mines are on of the most important sights of Mali. These gold mines at Mande are a window to the legendary wealth and power of ancient Mali. The gold mines of Mande are the backbones of the country since the long gone days of the legendary King Sundiata, the Lion Heart. The shafts of the gold mines in Mande are worth visiting for the tourists of the West African country.
The Mande are a linguistic group comprising of the following tribe Sarakole, Malinke, Soninke and the dominant Bamana or Bambara. These people had built there home and hearth near these gold mines and were naturally the controllers of the precious metal and thus of the Malian economy. But all the gold nuggets mined or otherwise discovered had to be immediately handed over to the state treasury, which was the representative of the king. The king himself was the owner of all the gold in the land. In return the treasury issued out gold dust equal in value to the gold nuggets. The gold was also the currency of trade with the out side traders bringing in much sought after goods from the Middle East.
Earlier the locations of the Mande gold mines were kept hidden and few knew how to get to the mines. Now the conditions have changed and the foreign gold giants from Canada and France control the current production under collaboration with the Malian government. Although gold is not used as a medium of barter and currency yet it is of international importance earning about 17% of the country's foreign exchange every year.
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