mercury-free mineral processing technology, with the aim of create sustainable jobs for small-scale and community mining programmes, as well as to protect the environment and the lives of miners in the West African nation. The new technology has been introduced by Commodity Monitor Limited, an Accra-based research company in mining industries. The initiative is expected to lead to the complete elimination of mercury from Ghana’s small-scaling mining programmes, thereby improving gold recovery to more than 90 per cent.
Handing over the technology to a mining community in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, Commodity Monitor’s Chief Executive Stephen Yeboah noted that uncontrolled use and exposure to mercury in small-scale mining remained a major concern as it not only affects miners but also puts their communities at risk of severe health conditions like permanent brain damage, vision impairment, hearing loss, seizures and delayed childhood development.
He went on to note that unsustainable and illegal mining remained a key driver of the destruction of river bodies and forests, with a soil analysis of the Pra River Basin in Southern Ghana revealing detonation in quality of water resources and soil. However, the new technology will address these challenges, Yeboah said. “The truth with the introduction of the new technology is that those young people interested in mining under the community mining programme or those with concessions can now mine without the use of chemicals and achieve high gold recovery too,” he added.
