In English-speaking settler colonial societies, the spread of the practice was enhanced by the widespread emigration of Cornish miners and mine managers.
[5] Advantages of tribute mining are that it is a form of profit sharing, encouraging productivity, and that the rights and obligations of the parties are subject to a specific written agreement that is enforceable.
[11][12] In Australia, tribute agreements fall within the jurisdiction of Warden's courts,[13] which date from the period of the Australian gold rushes.
[15] Usually, tribute miners would be former employees of a hitherto closed or partially-closed mine, with some existing knowledge of its ore body and its likely extent and strike and dip.
[18] In Zimbabwe, tribute agreements became a mechanism for involving local artisanal miners in the production of chromite from mines owned by transnational companies.