Minister reiterates govt’s commitment to responsible mining

The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Yakubu, has reiterated the government’s commitment to promote responsible and safe mining by ensuring that all mining companies comply with the mining laws of the country.

“We cannot allow you to operate as if there is no tomorrow; we must do all we can to ensure that mining activities are done in line with the law. I can assure you that I will insist that all mining companies in this region obey the laws,” he added.

The minister said this when he led members of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to Gbane in the Talensi District in the Upper East Region to inspect the activities of Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited, a Chinese mining company which supports the Yenyeya and Pubortaaba Mining groups, two local small-scale mining entities in the area.

Rationale

The visit was necessitated by recent moves by the government to ensure that all illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’, and other activities that were detrimental to the environment and human lives were stopped.

The visit was also to enable the REGSEC to acquaint itself with activities of the mining companies and to ensure that mining laws and regulations were strictly adhered to.

According to the minister, who is also the Chairman of the REGSEC, irresponsible mining was destroying the environment, including water bodies and forest reserves.

“Activities of illegal mining are destroying our environment because people are not following the rules and regulations governing the sector which is under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources,” Mr Yakubu said.

Local content

Apart from paying the right taxes to the government, the minister said all mining companies must also incorporate local content in their operations to ensure indigenous people benefitted from their activities to promote sustainable growth in those communities.

He commended Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited and its small-scale mining partners for engaging in underground mining  which Mr Yakubu said was environmentally- friendly.

The General Manager of Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited, Mr Li Jianguo, said since its inception in 2008, the company and its partners had worked to improve the lives of the people in the area through a memorandum of understanding signed between the companies and the community.

The Public Relations Officer of the company, Mr Maxwell Wooma, said currently, they were providing technical, managerial, logistical and other support services to the two mining companies which had a combined concession of 50 acres.

He said the company had five shafts and a processing plant which produced about 2,000 ores of gold per day, adding that it had a tailings dam which was fenced with well pipes connected to it to collect waste materials in conformity with the mining laws.