GOLD INING, MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO NATIONAL DEVELOPENT (PAGE 22, OCT 8, 2010)

GOLD mining is a major contributor to the development of the country, and has provided jobs for majority of the youth within the communities of the mining companies, most of which are found in the Western Region.
However, recent events in the mining sector pose a threat to life and the environment.
Some of the high risk factors which confront the mining companies include handling, usage and disposal of hazardous chemicals used in processing gold and explosives emanating from blast in both open and underground mines.
Other hazards include fall-offs and collapse of mines which kill or trap miners underneath, as well as accidents emanating from the use of heavy machinery and equipment.
A looming threat to the gold mining industry is the illegal gold mining activities which have been allowed to continue.
The delay in arresting this menace has emboldened the illegal miners who cause havoc to the environment by polluting water bodies with mercury and leaving large craters filled with water which is an unsuspecting farmers’ nightmare.
It is against this backdrop that the mining companies organise first aid and safety competitions every year to create awareness on safety issues and sound environmental management in the mining communities.
This year’s zone one first aid and safety competition was organised under the auspices of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, the inspectorate division of the Minerals Commission and the Golden Star (Wassa Mine) Limited at Akyempim in the Mpohor Wassa East District in the Western Region.
Gold mining companies which participated in the competition were Golden Star (Wassa Mine), Gold Fields Ghana (Damang Mine) and AngloGold Ashanti (Obuasi Mine).
The event was on the theme: “If it must be mined, it must be mined safely”.
Speaking at the ceremony, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Mpohor Wassa East, Mr Anthony Bassaw, said it was imperative for the mining companies to adhere to modern safety practices at all times within the mining sector to achieve an incident free mining environment.
He said safety and first aid issues must be seen as management issues that should permeate the rank and file of all staff, contractors and people living within the mining zones.
“These contractors, sub-contractors and other people engaged by mining companies to complement their activities through the provision of services must be adequately educated to understand and adhere to safety and first aid rules and policies of the mining companies,” he said.
Mr Bassaw stated that the shortfall of those contractors and sub-contractors remained the shortfalls of the mother company, adding that strict supervision of contractors was required to achieve a safe mining environment for all.
He said the operations of illegal small-scale miners posed a threat to life and was a major setback to sustainable environmental management, adding “We know “galamsey” is an illegal activity and that its operations are not regulated by any person or institution”.
“A time has come for us as a nation to evaluate our thoughts and actions and take a firm decision on the issue of “galamsey” once and for all,” Mr Bassaw stressed.
He called for concerted effort to stop it and save the environment and water bodies.
Mr Bassaw urged government agencies responsible for regulating the mining sector to design regulations to control the safety and general management of the environment in a sustainable manner.
In an address read on her behalf, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr Joyce R. Aryee, said last year, the mining industry contributed about GH¢319 million to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collection, representing 18 per cent of service’s total collection.
She said minerals’ contribution to gross export earnings was about 48 per cent, a significant contribution to the country’s balance of payments position.
Dr Aryee said the mining sub-sector grew at a remarkable rate of eight per cent, which compared favourably with the 5.5 per cent recorded in 2008.
“By this performance, the mining sector came second, behind the electricity and water sub-sector, which recorded nine per cent growth in the industrial sector in 2009,” she added.
Dr Aryee said the producing member companies returned about 76 per cent of their total mineral revenue to the country through the Bank of Ghana and the commercial banks in 2009.
She said that compared favourably with the 63 per cent they returned in 2008 and the aggregate average of 20 per cent they were required to return to the country.
Dr Aryee explained that the significantly high proportion of mineral revenue returned to the country underscored the extent to which the mining industry positively affected the local economy.
According to her, the producing member companies also paid to the state and voluntarily contributed to the host communities and the general public a total amount of US$166 million.
She said the responsiveness of mining companies to their social responsibilities motivated them to contribute both in cash and in kind to the development of their host communities.
“Indeed, mining companies’ interest in their host communities have been expanded to include social investment projects where they collaborate with the communities to fund projects that yield both social and economic returns to the communities,” the CEO added.