The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has commended the two large scale mining companies in the Upper East Region, Cardinal Namdini and Earl International group Gold Ghana Limited for undertaking responsible mining with huge impact on economy.
He, however, urged them to build local capacity through local content for future local dominance in the mining sector.
Meanwhile, the Paramount Chief of the Talensi Traditional Area, Naab Kugbilsong Nalegbegtang has called for the suspension of issuance of mining license to the area to control irresponsible mining during a working visit of the Minister.
The large discovery of gold and mining activities in the Talensi District and the active participation of large scale mining companies in the area is making an impact in the lives of people through local content participation.
To streamline the growing mining industry in the Northern part of Ghana, Mr Armah-Kofi Buah with officers from the Ministry has visited the two large scale mining companies to ensure strict compliance with the Minerals Act and laws guiding mining.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah was excited with the quality of mining operations undertaken by the companies and said the future of mining is in the northern part of Ghana is bright.
“These major mines that are in this Upper East Region, Cardinal and Earl International Group Gold Ghana Limited. I think we are very excited about what is happening in this region. It is very clear, that the future of mining is in this Northern part of Ghana.
And we believe that we must turn this opportunity to transform these regions. And that’s the discussion we had”, he said.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has therefore cautioned the mining companies of consequences of violating any of the laws on mining.
“And so you realize that apart from the need to ensure that the issues of safety and health are adhered to, that regulations are adhered to, that the operational standards meet what is required by law, it is also important that these mining companies are operating with the focus on building local capacity, local content in mind. Because in the final analysis what we have said is that, these finite resources are going to finish. What legacy are we leaving in this area, when it’s all gone”?
The Paramount Chief of the Talensi Traditional Area Naab Kugbilsong Nalegbegtang called for community responsible mining in the area and urged the government to suspend the issuance of mining licenses to help protect the environment.
Representatives of the mining companies assured the Minister of full compliance and improving on local content.
Vincent Sun, the Vice President and Investment Director at Cardinal Namdini thanked the Lands and Natural Resources Minister for acknowledging the efforts of the company in reducing poverty in the area through local content and that more people in the entire North will be trained and employed.
“So we had this discussion about local content, you know as we are growing, the local people, local community, and employees will grow with the company because we are still young. We are still at the beginning of the project. We will be operating here for another 19, 20, 30 years.So we believe that, you know, the local community, local people will grow with us. We will get more training, they will get more education, and will become part of our project.
And we intend to attract more talent from the local community, from the north, Upper East Region and also from all around Ghana because we need more. We need people. We need more talented mining professionals, mining people, or people interested in this industry to join us” he said.
Liu Jin Tao, General manager, Earl International Group Gold Ghana Limited appealed to the Lands Minister to intervene in the illegal encroachment of their underground mines by illegal miners as their activities are adversely affecting the company.
“The activities of illegal mining in our legally acquired concession are seriously affecting our operations. Intrusion in our underground area by illegal miners, robbing of our underground support pillars and the unregulated use of cyanide in our concession are serious threats to our operations.
As sector minister, you play a crucial role in helping us correct this wrong because most of the times, these issues come before you in one way or the other. We will continue to appeal to you and all stakeholders to take up this issue seriously and work with us to address them”, he said.
He added “Though we are challenged, management wishes to assure you that we will continue to honor our duties to the state of Ghana and contribute to the development of our host communities”.
In all, about 3000 Ghanians have been employed in the two mining companies and 80% of this number are from the Talensi District.
