The day before, 16-year-old Mohamed Bangura and 17-year-old Yayah Jenneh left their homes in Nyimbadu, in the country's Eastern Province, hoping to earn a little extra money for their families. But in recent years informal - or artisanal - gold mining has expanded as the diamond reserves have been depleted. Yayah's mother, Namina Jenneh, is a widow and had been relying on her young son to help provide for her other five children. Namina Jenneh Yayah Jenneh was mining in order to help his mother support his five siblingsMs Jenneh speaks with deep pain. Their government pay cannot compete with what they may be able to earn from gold mining.