‘Who intersects with whom’: Competing rationalities in governing the contested interface between industrial mining and ASGM in Gorontalo Province, Indonesia

The interface between industrial mining and artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) operations has increased globally due to simultaneous localized intensifications of both types of mining operations. The ensuing multiple interactions of entities and systems of industrial mining and ASM often result in conflict with significant material ramifications, usually to the detriment of ASM miners and communities. This paper investigates the contested interface at the point of industrial mining’s transition from exploration to production at two mine sites in Indonesia: namely, Suwawa Timur, in Bone-Bolango Regency and Gunung Pani, in Pohuwato Regency in Gorontalo Province. Specifically, these mining operations were in the environmental impact assessment and community consultation phase. Our investigation draws on in-depth interviews with miners involved in local artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) and ASM associations, representatives of gold/copper mining companies seeking to transition from exploration to production, associated government entities, and communities near these two mining locations. Our analysis demonstrates the contestation of the interface through focusing on the question of ‘who intersects with whom?’—as raised by both mining companies and ASGM actors. Using a combined lens of governmentality and interpretive governance, this paper argues that governing the interface involves the exercise of power/knowledge of multiple actors through the promotion of competing rationalities, making the interface relations dynamic and positional. In concluding, we advocate for the active and legitimate involvement of ASM actors in governing the interface.