Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said plans were far advanced to add about 100,000 small scale mining sites to create over 300,000 jobs in addition to the existing twenty (20) community mining sites across the country, providing 3,000 jobs each.
He said the country was also providing the community miners with the machines that used little water to get over 99 per cent of the gold ore.
He pointed out that community mining was key to solving issues affecting small-scale mining which posed greater risks to the environment and the people involved, adding that the Government was keen on adding value to the industry and making it more viable through the integrated gold industry.
Dr Mawumia was speaking at this year’s Ghana Gold Expo Mining Week which was aimed at engaging Governments and all stakeholders in the mining value chain to promote responsible mining and maximise the socioeconomic impact of the industry in the long term.
He mentioned that the integration of mining to the various sectors of the economy was key to ensuring sustainability of the mining industry and called for inclusive growth and sustainability in the mining communities by industry giants to reverse the trend.
“The community mining initiative is a great game-changer in the gold mining industry especially, in promoting sanity among the small-scale sector”, he emphasized.
Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Western Regional Minister said the Ghana Gold Expo has provided insights into the newest and innovative mining technologies and equipment that are revolutionizing small scale mining operations by increasing gold recovery up to over 90 percent, and exposed participants to best practices adopted by some large-scale mining companies, especially in conservation and reclamation.
He said the successes from the maiden Expo have really taught us that we can cause “big things to happen” if only we become resolute in our thoughts, and have thus compelled the organization of this Mining Week as a follow-up to the discourse which started at the Ghana Gold Expo 2020.
“We could only build on the gains made from shared experiences and expertise of the renowned resource persons as well as the resolutions made at that forum”, he opined.
He pointed out that it was common knowledge that in many countries across Africa, Artisanal and Small Scale (Gold) Mining (ASGM) was a livelihood and also played a socio-cultural role, attested to by the several gold, diamonds and silver ornaments that were displayed at our social functions.
The Ghana Mining Week was preceded by a gold expo in 2020 to advance policies to ensure that the small-scale mining sector, in particular, operated within laws and procedures that sustained the environment and promoted responsive mining.
