THEME: MANAGING AFRICA’S RESOURCES...

THEME: MANAGING AFRICA’S RESOURCES SUSTAINABLY

CHALLENGES OF SMALL SCALE MINING IN GHANA

BYIBRAHIM BAWA

MINERALS COMMISSION

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

♦ Introduction- Background of SSM in Ghana- Definition of Small Scale Mining (SSM)

♦ Economic Importance of SSM

♦ Regularization of SSM in Ghana

♦ Some Pictures of SSM in Ghana

♦ Challenges of SSM

♦ Way Forward

♦ Conclusion

INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

The contribution of small-scale mining to the economies of several developing countries cannot be overemphasized.

Research shows that SSM activity involves about 4 million people directly & that it affects the livelihoods of a further 16 to 28 million in Africa.

INTRODUCTION (CONTINTRODUCTION (CONT’’D )D )

SSM activities in Ghana ( particularly of gold) is extremely widespread, although the bulk of the activities tend to be concentrated within Ghana’s greenstone belts (Birimian and Tarkwaian) and alluvial areas especially along the paleo-placer terraces of the Offin, Pra, Ankobra and Tano rivers and their tributaries.

DEFINITIONDEFINITION

It has no universal definition. The criteria used by various countries in defining SSM range from:

- investment costs- labour requirements- ore production capacity- size of concession or any combination

of these

DEFINITION OF SSM (CONTDEFINITION OF SSM (CONT’’D)D)In Ghana, the criteria used to classify SSM include:

- size of concession; - duration of license.

In fact, defined in the Minerals & Mining Act,2006 (Act,703) as mining operation “over an area of land in accordance with the number of blocks prescribed”.

SCOPE OF SSMSCOPE OF SSMSSM operations found in both precious minerals (gold and diamonds) and industrial minerals including construction materials

Common industrial minerals include kaolin, sand, gravels, granite, clays, salt, mica, feldspar and aggregate stones.

SIGNIFICANCE OF SSMSIGNIFICANCE OF SSMGenerates employment for rural folk thereby reducing the incidence of rural-urban drift .

Contributes significantly to the production of precious minerals, gold and diamonds, and generates substantial foreign exchange

Total gold production by SSM for 2008 was 15.8% of total gold production and for diamonds 100% of total production.

SIGNIFICANCE OF SSM (CONTSIGNIFICANCE OF SSM (CONT’’D)D)

Local market demand for sand, silica, kaolin and brown clay are supplied by SSMs.

SSM of industrial minerals saves government scarce foreign exchange which would have been used to import such raw materials for industries such as pharmaceuticals, paint, ceramics and glass manufacturing.

In licensed operational areas , the incidence of child labour, drug abuse etc are very minimal

Comparative Production Figures For Gold Production (2000 to 2008)

YEAR SSM (Ounces) Total Ghana oz % SSM to Total Ghana

2000 147,663 2,457,152 6.02001 185,596 2,381,345 7.82002 160,879 2,236,833 7.22003 221,063 2,274,627 9.72004 248,571 2,029,970 12.22005 225,411 2,138,944 10.52006 274,979 2,423,265 11.32007 308,052 2,628,290 11.72008 447,865 2,839,802 15.8

Comparative Production Figures For Diamond Production (2000 to 2008)

Year Small-scale Total Ghana(cts) %Small-scale toTotal Ghana

2000 686,551 878,011 78.22001 973,033 1,090,072 89.32002 791,908 963,493 82.22003 750,097 904,089 83.02004 778,401 905,344 86.02005 942,215 1,065,923 88.42006 894,225 967,864 92.42007 836,059 836,488 99.92008 599,007 599,007 100.0

REGULARISATION OF SSM IN GHANA

Regularisation of SSM in Ghana since 1989 had the following objectives:

To provide an avenue for employment generation with a view to curbing rural-urban labour drift.

To absorb some of the excess labour who might be retrenched as a result of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), which was being implemented at the time.

REGULARISATION OF SSM IN GHANA (CONTD)

Monitor and supervise the activities of small-scale miners by ensuring acceptable mining practices with minimum damage to the environment.

To provide ready official market for minerals to ensure maximum contribution of the sub-sector to the national economy thereby reducing the incidence of smuggling of precious minerals.

To stem the tide of encroachment of small-scale miners on large-scale concessions.

PICTURES OF CURRENT SSM PICTURES OF CURRENT SSM MINING PRACTICESMINING PRACTICES

HARDROCK MINING

PICTURES OF CURRENT SSM PICTURES OF CURRENT SSM MINING PRACTICES (CONTMINING PRACTICES (CONT’’D)D)

MECHANISED MINING


MANUAL CRUSHING


MANUAL MILLING OF ORE


CHINESE HAMMER MILL (CHANG FA)


SUCTION DREDGING

PICTURES OF CURRENT SSM PICTURES OF CURRENT SSM MINING PRACTICES (CONTMINING PRACTICES (CONT’’DD))

SLUICING FOR GOLD CONCENTRATE

STATUS OF SMALL SCALE STATUS OF SMALL SCALE MININGMINING

Significant increase in mining activities over the entire country.

Valid licences as at today number over 600

Number of small scale miners in Ghana is estimated to be over 500,000

STATUS (CONTSTATUS (CONT’’D)D)

Those in the informal system are deemed to be more than those in the formal sector.

According to Prof. Mireku Gyimah (1993), total number of people who benefit from SSM is over 1 million

Not to mention forward and backwards economic linkages

FUNCTIONS OF DIST. OFFICES FUNCTIONS OF DIST. OFFICES 7 District Offices of the Minerals Commission are established within the country –Tarkwa, Oda, Bibiani, Dunkwa, Asankrangwa,Asin Fosu & Bolgatanga.

Functions of District Offices:

- compile register of SS miners- supervise and monitor SSM operations

- advise and provide training- submit reports to the head office- facilitate formation of SSM

associations

Map of Ghana showing 7 Map of Ghana showing 7 D/officesD/offices

Bolgatanga

Bibiani

Asankrangwa

Tarkwa

Dunkwa

Akim Oda

Assin Fosu

CHALLENGES OF SSMIn spite of various interventions made by Government to develop the SSM, the sub-sector is still plagued with a lot of challenges which border on the following issues:

Inadequate delineation and definition of mineral potential areas suitable for SSM exploitation

Inadequate provision of human and material resources to governmental institutions to manage the SSM sub-sector

Insufficient legislative provisions in the SSM licensing scheme

CHALLENGES OF SSM (CONT’D)

Difficulty in forming SSM associations, community organizations and/or co-operatives

Lack of viable and sustainable financing credit schemes for the SSM

Limited provision of appropriate technology transfer to increase productivity, reduce mercury use

CHALLENGES OF SSM (CONT’D)

Health, Safety and Environmental challenges include:

Increased exposure of SSMs to mercury, dust and other chemicals, and vulnerability to the effects of noise vibration, poor ventilation, overexertion.

Direct discharge of tailings and effluents into rivers and streams, resulting in siltation of these water bodies.

CHALLENGES OF SSM (CONT)

Mercury pollution

Deforestation

Landscape destruction

Difficulty of SSMs to undertake adequate reclamation because of lack of capacity and financial resources

CHALLENGES OF SSM (CONTD)

Increasing hostility between SSM and large scale mining operators over mineralized lands and inability to achieve co-existence

Conflicts between surface right and mineral right owners

Difficulty in eliminating child labour in SSM activities

Lack of courage on the part of Gov’t to enforce Laws.

Lack of sufficient mineable deposits to cater for the increasing number of prospective miners.

WAY FORWARDWAY FORWARD

Government InterventionsEstablishment of outreach offices to provide technical support to SSMs

Opening of buying centers close to operational areas to provide ready market

Reserving suitable areas exclusively for licensing to SSMs

Provision of Credit Facilities to organised SSM groups for acquisition of mining equipment to improve production

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONSGOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONS(CONT(CONT’’D)D)

Educational campaigns on mercury pollution abatement to mining communities

Training of SSMs on mercury usage

Mercury Pollution Abatement Project

National Security intervened to flush out illegal miners from certain hot spots

WAY FORWARDWAY FORWARD

Measures Under Consideration

Further simplifying licensing procedure by possibly decentralizing most aspects of processing.

Simplifying further EPA permitting processes for SSMs.

CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

Measures being taken by Gov’t thus have the potential to ultimately address the socio-economic and environmental challenges of small scale mining in the country effectively.

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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