Driving lorries, blasting rocks – Women break the mould at Burkina Faso gold mines

Tene Konate takes pride in telling incredulous relatives about her job driving a 72 t dump truck around the vast open pit at the Hounde gold mine in western Burkina Faso. The 42-year-old single mother is one of 111 women at the mine, many trained for jobs that would more traditionally be done by men in West Africa: hauling rubble, blasting rocks, or driving heavy vehicles.