The uncontrolled use of toxic mercury and explosives by illegal miners is causing irreparable damage to the Black Volta River and its surrounding environment, says Vitus Ngaanuma, the Community Relations Manager of Azumah Resources Ghana Limited, an Australian company exploring for gold in Ghana’s Upper West Region (Province).
The Black Volta is a 1,352-kilometre river which flows through northwestern Ghana to join the White Volta in central Ghana and forms a small part of the international border between Ghana and Ivory Coast, and also a section of border between Ghana and Burkina Faso.
The illegal miners also exploit the services of young children — who should be in school — for their financial gains, said Ngaanuma, who told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the illegal miners had brought in guns and illicit drugs and created social unrest in the communities in which they operate.
He said that recently three illegal miners from Chari communities in the Nadowli-Kaleo District who were illegally exploring for gold at Azumah’s concession died when an underground pit collapsed.
He said the deaths of the miners should serve as a wake-up call for the authorities to act quickly and decisively to stamp out the escalating illegal mining activities at the company’s concession.
He said the time had come for effective action to stop more deaths among the youth and the frequent environmental destruction in the communities and he urged the Environmental Protection Agency to confiscate the equipment and machinery used by the illegal miners.
