The Governing Council of Ghana Gold Expo, organisers of the Ghana Gold Mining Week 2021 have presented the Ghana Gold Expo Report 2021 to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The Ghana Mining Week 2021, is an initiative by View tag-Ghana as a policy advocacy body that focuses mainly on Promoting Zero Mercury (Responsible Gold Production) in local mining. It provides a platform to advance against the application of the deadly chemical in mining by the Minamata Convention on Mercury and Gold trade traceability.
The Governing Council is led by the Executive Director Mr. Steven Blessing Ackah and Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, MP for Takoradi explained that the report is on the state of the Mining Industry in Ghana and how Ghana can increase its gold optimization by the Central Bank of Ghana, as presented during the forum.
The report, is available to the general public on the Ghana Gold Expo Website and Forbes Monaco November issue.
Mr. Ackah at the presentation stated that, the report includes insights and recommendations from diverse stakeholders, both local and international, all on National Inclusive Growth and Enabling Policies in the Mining Sector.
The Bank of Ghana (BOG) as represented by Mr. Stephen Opata, the Director of Financial Markets presented on the central bank as a catalyst for the formalisation of Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM).
The report also analysed strategic steps and measures to be put in place to eradicate the use of mercury among Artisanal Small Scale Gold Miners (ASGMs), due diligence procedures, monitoring and transparency in ASGM activities and water treatment strategies that Water Commission, Environmental Protection Agency and Minerals Commission can jointly adopt to clean our water bodies.
The report highlights presentations by the World Gold Council, the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Minerals Commission on Mining Exploration, LBMA and other speakers. It also covers a presentation of a Gold Gift to the Vice President, Dr. Mahamud Bawumia.
The event received the support of the Government of Ghana, through the Western Regional Coordinating Council and with the partnership and support of international agencies such as Aurum Monaco, Forbes Monaco, Gold Fields Ghana, Bank of Ghana, Minerals Commission, Veola Ghana, Gold Coast Refinery, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and other stakeholders in the mining industry.
The event which was hosted in Takoradi, in the Western Region of Ghana, July 1st to 3rd 2021, had in attendance more than 500 people, comprising of representatives from the Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana, Ministries, Government agencies, Mining companies, and Miner groups; 13 Embassies and Diplomatic Missions in Ghana; 10 global financial institutions; representatives from the LBMA, World Gold Council, Forbes, and other notable brands.
The event received the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana as the Keynote Speaker, the Western Regional Minister as the host, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources as Guest Speaker, and many other speakers and diplomatic envoys. Among the attendees were both small-scale and large-scale miners.
Finally, the report covers the Diplomatic Mining Field trip which had foreign envoys and participants visiting some mining sites in the Western region through the unflinching support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
