The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, has commissioned the Afransie Community Mining Scheme.
According to him, this is in furtherance of the ministry’s quest to create employment through responsible and sustainable small-scale mining, as the government continues to establish the Community Mining Scheme in various communities in the country.
The latest community to benefit from the environmental-friendly, modernized and mercury-free mining module is Afransie in the Wassa Amenfi East Municipality in the Western Region. Joined by the Western Regional Minister, Kwadwo Okyere Darko Mensah, and some traditional rulers, the deputy lands minister launched the Wassa-Afransie Community Mining Scheme.
In his remarks at the ceremony held to commission the project, he reminded the residents and workers that the Community Mining Scheme’s guidelines and safety measures must be strictly followed.
The responsible Mining measures, according to the Deputy Minister, includes reclamation of lands and complete avoidance of mercury in the process of mining. To prevent the Miners from going against the rules, he, on behalf of government presented a mercury-free machine to the operators to assist in the discovery and processing of gold.
“You must mine within the dictates of the licenses issued by the Minerals Commission. It shouldn’t be the usual galamsey. Since this place is an alluvial concession, you must put in place measures for reclamation of every portion of land you’ll dig. Reclamation is a priority that must traditionally followed. Government has recognized that the mercury is poisonous and harmful to the environment so we have mercury-free machines that will help you mine the gold. The mercury-free machine will help you discover 90% of gold in the ore compare to the mercury chemical that has an efficiency rate of 40%.”
George Mireku Duker
Sanitizing small-scale mining in the country
The Deputy Minister revealed that these measures forms part of the quest by the government to sanitize the small-scale mining sector. Whiles denying reports of government seeking to collapse the small-scale mining sector, Mr Duker indicated that the policies and measure are meant to increase revenue and employment in the small-scale mining sector.
Furthermore, Mr Duker charged all persons engaged in illegal mining popularly known as ‘galamsey’ to abandon it since it’s destructive and a threat to the country’s forest reserves and water bodies. He noted that the Community Mining Scheme will create sustainable and profitable jobs for the inhabitants and also charged them to protect the waterbodies in the area.
On his part, the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah said gold is a top revenue earner for the government and that the government is determined to develop the sector further.
He stated that many cities and countries around the world were built on revenue from gold mining and that the community could benefit from the concession if they act in accordance with the law.
In light of this, Hon. Okyere Darko Mensah revealed that the CMS is a further proof of the commitment by the Akufo-Addo administration to the mining sector.
The Wassa-Afransie Community Mining Scheme has become the 18th launched since its inception in 2021. It is expected to create 7,000 direct jobs and 3000 indirect job opportunities.
It will be recalled that in January this year, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, launched a community mining scheme at Bongo-Soe in the Bongo District – the first-ever community in the Upper East Region and the second to be sited in the five regions of the north.
The first community mining scheme was opened at Tinga in the Bole District in the Savanna Region in 2020. The scheme is being operated by the Bongo-Soe Community Mining Limited which has been granted a license by the ministry to operate on a 25-acre gold mining concession in the community.
