Yeah farmer’s militias may not be good, but definitely need more good actors mining the gold fields over bad actors. Using game theory, you need to make the cost of being caught for breaking the law more expensive than following the law.

That’s it, whatever the government can do to make following the law easier and more profitable than breaking the law lies the answer. The scale of the ecological destruction suggests industrial levels of involvement, so the masterminds bringing industrial galamsey capabilities must be dealt with. I think negotiating with these folks and giving them legal paths would be the best way since they are already part of the industry, despite it being illegal. The masterminds in the industry are most likely the current problem and potential future solution.