This paper explores why it has been possible to consolidate mechanized gold mining at the expense of artisanal mining in ethnic territories. It conducts a case study of Choco, Colombia, where careful ethnographic work made it possible to find a gold production and trade network, which links traditional kinship bonds and precarious living conditions with the global dynamics of gold exploitation. Using a specific empirical construction, it presents a comprehensive framework of the dynamics of gold exploitation at national administrative centers, which are culturally, institutionally and infrastructurally disarticulated.