The 2010 land use and land cover data of the emerging Northwest mining region shows the current state of environmental conditions in the area, two decades after the Rio Conference, and how this has been impacted by illegal mining or quarrying or large-scale exploration activities in the area. This data could also be used to identify the gaps that need to be filled before the commencement of large-scale mining in the very nearest future. It is important to ask how this data could be used to inform relevant decision making on illegal mining in the area. The simple answer to the question is that environmental and land use impacts of the activities can be identified and mitigated, the presence and movement patterns of both illegal small-scale gold mining (galamsey) and large-scale mining can be tracked and estimate their environmental footprint using this data. Potential conflicts with regards to land use and concession encroachment could also be averted with these data. EPSG:3857