El Dorado in West Africa

• Geological structures and the location of gold in Ghana; traditional gold mining in the southwestern Akan region - African states, technology, political economy and gender; the Wassa "gold rush" of 1877-1885 - African and European promoters of mining capitalism; barriers to gold production in the 1880s - capitalization, technology, labour recruitment and transportation; the colonial government and the expanding miners frontier - pressures for mining district administration, health services and transport improvements; overcoming the odds - labour, technology, management and production at the bit three Wassa mining companies 1883-1897; retrospect and aftermath -mining frontiers, capitalism, labour and the colonial state.

Dumett convincingly depicts the phenomenon of the African farmer-miner ... adds rare depth to pre-colonial business history. Most concessions failed to realize a return on their subscriber's investments. One of the few successful enterprises, the future Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, was established by three educated middle-class coastal Africans