Forty kilometres off the M1, deep in the rural expanse of Kasungu lie Gogodi and Chimbiya, once thriving farming communities now scarred by the gold rush. Desperation has driven people in the area of Traditional Authority Chitantha-Mapiri underground, risking life and limb in search of gold. What began as survival has become a slow descent into environmental ruin, health hazards and social collapse. Underground mining here is physically brutal and extremely risky. The 2025/26 National Budget identifies gold miners as a key group in its formalisation drive.