Andrew Rowat

Looking up the valley at an active gold mining site in Northern Mongolia, a scant 20km from the Russian border. The checkerboard of holes that you see have been cut into the ice of a frozen river. The trees from the surrounding slope are then cut down and
The expedition's reindeer train on day two of the three day journey into the illegal gold mining camp in the Northern reaches of Mongolia, 20km from the Russian border. This pass between the mountains stretched for close to 30km and took us as high as 300
A Ninja Miner with a metal detector poses for a portrait on a frozen river at an illegal gold mine in Mongolia's frontier region with Siberia. The term 'ninja miner' refers to green basin that the miners use to pan for gold - when slung over their backs i
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Looking up the valley at an active gold mining site in Northern Mongolia, a scant 20km from the Russian border. The checkerboard of holes that you see have been cut into the ice of a frozen river. The trees from the surrounding slope are then cut down and
Miners work to bring a bucket to the surface of an artisanal gold mine in Northern Mongolia. Located in a National Forest the miners operate illegal and wage a war against the forest - sawing down trees to feed the furnace that thaws the earth. I am [ed
A young Mongolian couple dressed in traditional garb at an illegal gold mining camp ('Ninja Mining') in Khovsgol Province, Mongolia. Ninja Mining is the act of illegal gold mining, and the terminology is specific to Mongolia. It is a reference to the basi
Mongolian 'ninja miners' work to extract gold from the slurry of a frozen landscape in the extreme north of the country by the Russian border. The miners come by their 'ninja' moniker by dint of their ever-present green panning basins. When slung over the
Looking down on a valley at an active gold mining site in Northern Mongolia, a scant 20km from the Russian border. The checkerboard of holes that you see have been cut into the ice of a frozen river. The trees from the surrounding slope are then cut down
Ninja Miners pose for a group portrait at an illegal gold mine in Mongolia's frontier region with Siberia. The term 'ninja miner' refers to green basin that the miners use to pan for gold - when slung over their backs it makes them look like the cartoon c
Peering down into a gully with a frozen river threading its way through in Northern Mongolia. Men and women are at work trying to extract gold from the landscape. First trees are felled, and then sawn, to create bonfires which are used to thaw the earth.
Two lone tents dot the landscape of Northern Mongolia, nestled up against the Russian border. The tents are located a few hundred meters from a gulley where artisanal (and illegal) gold mining is happening. Men, and some women, have flocked here from all
Horse skulls are lifted up off the ground as a sign of reverence, not a macabre menagerie, in Northern Mongolia. The skulls mark the path on the way into an illegal gold mining camp located approximately 20km from the Siberian border.