The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Dramani Mahama has detailed how small-scale mining can be done responsibly.
According to John Mahama, Small-scale mining is done in America, Canada, and in many other places there is small-scale mining, but it is how it done.
Speaking on GTV presidential encounters, John Mahama stated, “Small-scale mining is done in America, and Canada there is small scale. In many places there is small-scale mining; it is how you do it, and it is not illegal, it is in our minerals law, and small mining is one of the sectors in our gold mining law. But how do you do it is the issue”.
“They have the technology for doing it responsibly, here we are not enforcing what they need to do to do it responsibly if you go to America and they map out an area they have done an exploration they know where the gold is they map it out, they bring the machines the first thing they do is they do what the call a leash pad or leash dam, it is a big dam they excavate it”, he detailed.
The NDC flagbearer added, “And then they line it with polythene, then they construct a course to bring water into it and then they start mining the gold and then washing the gold extracting the gold, all the dirty water and the toxic water goes into the leash pad. Because you have lined it with plastic it doesn’t seep into the ground”.
“Now when you finish the mining they have some chemicals that you put into the water or sometimes they use microbes, there are some microbes that eat toxins, they eat toxins and eat dirt, and so you put it into the water it would clean that water you can even take a cup and drink it, and then when they have done that they discharge the water into the environment”, he emphasized.
He further added after mining some machines are used to flatten the ground, and certain composed materials are sprayed on all the ground, when trees are planted one cannot tell in five years that mining took place there.
John Mahama revealed that although he did not study mining, he had researched it.
Watch the video below:
WATCH: On #Galamsey – John Mahama explains how small scale mining can be done responsibly. The host is surprised at his (JM’s) depth on the subject. pic.twitter.com/wSZNSrN4eQ
— Che🇬🇭 (@CheEsquire) November 29, 2024
