Illegal Mining in Obuasi

Overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of artisanal miners working illegally on its Obuasi concessions, AngloGold Ashanti has appealed to the government and the national security agencies to intervene to prevent an environment catastrophe, which might engulf the Obuasi municipality and its environs.

Mr Y.B Amponsah, AGA General Manager for Sustainable Development, made the appeal at the just ended International Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development in Accra.

Mr Amponsah said Obuasi alone has more than 10,000 illegal miners who have been dangerously mining illegally not only on the surface and the underground but in the mine's tailing dams as well. The 6km sq Dokyiwa Dam has been attracting between 400 to 500 illegal miners on a daily basis, which he said is "alarming".

'They have virtually taken over the dams and the fear is that if the walls of these dams collapse, the communities and villages around the dams will be run over with slurry from the dams".

Touching on environmental issues in Obuasi, where commercial mining begun in 1897, the General Manager for Sustainable Development admitted that before the 1980s "the concepts of responsible mining, sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, as we know today, were not in the business vocabulary of the mining industry", but with growing awareness and availability of technology, AGA is working hard to achieve its environmental targets.

Mr Amponsah said the running and direction of the mine's environmental issues is currently based on International Standards 14001:2004(ISO1400) systems, which places emphasis on planning, operation, checking and correction and management review.

He mentioned the setting up of a multipurpose environmental laboratory, the dismantling of the Pompora Treatment Plant and the installation of the huge BIOX environmentally friendly processing plant in Obuasi as some examples of the bold measures, which were taken by the mine to tackle environment issues head-on in the 1990s.

For the past four years, Mr Amponsah said, AGA has supported projects like the Obuasi Malaria Control Programme, which has reduced the incidence of malaria in Obuasi by 65%; funded the Bibiani Government hospital for the construction of a maternity block and another $100,000 to the Neuroscience Foundation at Korle Teaching Hospital, for the construction of the first neuroscience hospital in West Africa..

allAfrica.com: Ghana: Illegal Mining in Obuasi (Page 1 of 1)