Ghana Vice president warns on illegal mining activities

Ghana's Vice President Mahama has cautioned Chiefs and traditional leaders against condoning conniving with illegal small scale miners.

Herobo sand manufacturing said this practice will be to the detriment of public interest and will have a very negative impact on the environment.

He said: “We will want to assure the mining industry that as a government, we will do our best to curb if not to totally eradicate the activities of illegal miners popularly referred to as ‘galamsey’.

Vice President Mahama was speaking at the inauguration of the Edikan Mines belonging to the Perseus Mining Ghana, at Ayanfuri in the Central Region.

The Edikan Gold mine is situated 16 kilometres west of Dunkwa-on-Offin near Ayanfuri.

The mine commenced construction in June 2010 with the first gold poured in August 2011 to test run the facility.

Vice President Mahama announced that government had advanced the local content law, which would compel the extractive industry and other transnational corporations to employ a reasonable percentage of the indigenes in their enterprises.

He said government is also putting in place a number of regulations that would restructure the operations of the extractive industry and make it more purposeful and beneficial to the companies and the indigenes of their operational areas.

The Vice President commended PMGL for setting aside GH¢750,000 as a trust fund to undertake development projects in their operational areas.

He appealed to them to engage stakeholders in the definition of their social license and distribution of the projects to avoid bitterness.

“I will encourage Perseus Mining not to limit its training programmes only to the youth of its mining communities, but other less endowed communities in the country,” he concluded.