Socio-demographic characteristics of traditional gold smelters in Makassar, south Sulawesi, Indonesia

The traditional gold smelting in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, is an informalwork with the manufacture of gold jewelry as the core activity. Stages of the gold processinginclude panning, smelting, and refining with mercury. In the current study, we used a socialdemography analysis to classify the traditional gold smelter workers in this region. Data (e.g.sex, age, education level, time working, and income) were obtained from a questionnairesurvey of 58 smelter workers in the Wajo and Tallo Sub-districts of Makassar. Results showedthat 84.5% of the workers were males aged from 21 to 50 years with on the average 15 year ofwork. The gold smelter were last educated in elementary school (31.0%), junior high school(36.2%), and senior high school (27.6%) levels whereas 5.1% have no education. We foundthat the monthly income of an un-skilled worker was ~Rp. 2 million (USD 147.0) whereas thatof a skilled worker was between Rp. 2.5 million (USD 183.76) and Rp. 5 million (USD367.51). An owner could earn over Rp. 5 million (USD 367.51) per month. The resultsuggested that the traditional gold smelting used rudimentary technique and attracted youngpeople with a low education level. This business continues to exist because the worker earnsufficient income and may higher through mastering gold smelter proficiency.Keywords: Socio-demographic, Goldsmith, UAGM