GFGL schooled stakeholders on mine closure

Akoon (W/R), July 23, GNA - GoldFields Ghana Limited (GFGL), Tarkwa Mine, has held discussions with its host communities and stakeholders on how they would put some facilities and areas of the Mine to effective use after closure.

This engagement forms part of the Mines closure planning activities that has been scheduled to take place once in two years.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Christian Debrah, Environmental Manager for GFGL, Tarkwa Mines, explained that per regulation, the firm was supposed to complete accosted reclamation plan and put in place the current land forms and how they would leave the Mine land after the closure.

He said the Mining firm cannot do this without consulting their key stakeholders, regulators, traditional authorities and communities to seek their opinion and what they should expect during the Mine closure. 

Mr Debrah said “We reviewed the accosted reclamation plan, inputs from the community and we add our inputs into the reports and then submit it to duty regulators for approval and implementation”.

“So basically the programme is to let the communities know what we are doing on the Mine, what they intend to do with some of the Mines facilities and then what the communities also want from us so that we will also take it on board going forward”, he indicated.

Some of the attendees suggested that, they should handover the Mines water treatment plant to the communities, and that, they also want to use the rocks in the Mine for quarry, the heap leach to mould blocks as well as use the pits as waste disposal sites.

“Our communities would make the wish but it’s not up to us to accept or reject, it depends on the legal regime that is if what the Mine and the community wants are both achievable”, he said.

The stakeholders later toured the Mining site and lands that were no longer in use and had been safely reclaimed and were been used for teak and citrus plantations.

GNA

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