Residents told visiting journalists with The Associated Press and The Gecko Project that such explosions have cracked or crumbled homes during the operations of Liberia’s largest gold miner, the Bea Mountain Mining Corporation. Half of Liberia’s forested area is covered by proposed or active mining licenses for Bea Mountain or other firms, according to a report last year by the nonprofit Forest Trends. In villages near the largest Bea Mountain mine, other grievances emerged. Residents recalled the anger that spilled over in 2024 in protests against the mining operations that they said police ended with tear gas and deadly force. These are the tensions that often underlay mining operations across the African continent, where experts say regulation and oversight can be weak.