The Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP) has intensified its community sensitisation drive in the Western Region with visits to mining communities in Tarkwa-Nsuaem and Prestea Huni Valley.
At Badukrom in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, residents expressed interest in an abandoned mining pit in their community. They appealed to the government to negotiate with Gold Fields to release the land for cooperative mining as a way of reducing unemployment.
In Bankyim, the Coordinator of rCOMSDEP, Engineer Frank Pedro Asare, and his team sensitised miners on the importance of responsible mining practices. He stressed that health, safety, and environmental protection must guide all mining operations.
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“If we want to mine and still preserve our lives and environment, then health, safety, and the environment must be key,” he said.
Engineer Asare also disclosed that the government was considering a review of the mining licensing regime in response to concerns that most concessions were held by large-scale mining companies.
“Currently, mining licences can run for up to 30 years. We are considering reforms to reduce this to 15 years so that communities can also have access to mine responsibly,” he explained.
The rCOMSDEP team also visited the Brahabobom mining site in Tarkwa-Nsuaem and the Apinto community mining site in Prestea Huni Valley.
At both sites, Engineer Asare observed that the absence of a proper processing plant posed environmental risks, as miners washed ore in scattered places, leading to stream pollution. He recommended the establishment of a processing plant to improve operations.
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“There is a need to have a processing plant on the site. That will enable the ore to be washed and gold extracted in a responsible way, rather than washing at different places where water ends up in streams and pollutes them,” he said.
Workers at the sites welcomed the proposal, noting that such an intervention would help them mine more responsibly while protecting the environment.
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