Solidaridad and Pact have distributed six mercury-free mineral processing equipment to selected artisanal and small-scale gold mines across the country under the “Promoting Mercury-free Mining in Ghana” project, with funding from the United States Department of State.

The selected mines include Agyapa Ye, Benvico, Okutey, Bazuri, Dakete, and Beeva in the Ashanti, Western and Western North regions.

The Dakete mine received an ST-30 shaking table upgrader, while each of the other five mines received 'Gold Kacha' gold concentrators, as well as ‘Gold Konka’ upgraders, fabricated by Appropriate Processing Technology (APT) in South Africa. The distribution of mineral processing equipment is part of the programme’s ongoing efforts to reduce mercury usage and promote safe working environments.

Artisanal and small-scale gold mines are the world’s largest users of mercury and remain the largest source of mercury emissions, with an annual estimate of over 2,000 tonnes. Miners conventionally use mercury as a separating agent to extract gold particles from other materials. This practice directly affects miners who may inhale mercury vapour and absorb the substance into the body through contact, which can cause severe health challenges.

The danger of mercury exposure is not limited to miners, as the entire community may be exposed to it through emissions into the ambient air in urban and semi-urban areas where gold shops are located and through the disposal of mercury into water bodies, leading to contamination of aquatic life. Symptoms of mercury exposure in humans can include shaking in extremities, liver and kidney damage, impaired hearing, blindness, skin cancer, respiratory infections, as well as cerebral palsy in children when pregnant women are exposed to mercury, and damage to women’s reproductive health.

Rosemary Addico, Programme Manager for Responsible Gold Mining at Solidaridad West Africa, said the distribution of equipment follows a series of sensitization efforts deployed through radio and community fora to highlight the effects of mercury usage in artisanal small-scale mining, as well as training sessions with miners on alternative mineral processing solutions.

The project has sensitised over 15,000 individuals, with a strategy to build consensus amongst mining community stakeholders about the need to adopt safer mining practices.

“We have a responsibility at Solidaridad to ensure that farmers, workers, and miners operate within decent working environments devoid of any practices or processes that will be harmful to their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.”

Rosemary applauded the receiving mines for their willingness to innovate and adopt innovative solutions and stressed the need for policy frameworks to strengthen the impact of the advocacy work.

"Ghana is a signatory to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which is a multilateral environmental agreement that addresses human activities which are contributing to mercury pollution and aims at reducing global mercury pollution over the coming decades. The Convention enjoins states to formulate policies and establish cogent controls to regulate mercury usage. Ghana is bound by international law to put these controls in place," she said.

Adopting innovative solutions

The lack of technical expertise among miners and concerns about the gold recovery rate has been a significant hindrance in the adoption of alternate mineral processing technologies.

Joseph Kofi Ababio, Mine Manager at the Agyapa Ye Mine, who received the Gold Kacha concentrator on behalf of his mine, had this to say, "The Gold Kacha machine has alleviated my concerns on the gold extraction rate and the possibility of losing gold if I modify my extraction process. My experience testing the machine confirms that it gives a better gold extraction rate than using mercury.”

He intimated that the Gold Kacha provides maximum extraction on the first attempt, which significantly improves their efficiency and reduces labour demand compared to their previous approach, which required at least three extraction cycles to ensure that all gold particles have been retained.

He added that the health benefit to himself, workers, and the community from operating a mercury-free mine was enough incentive to switch to the use of the Gold Kacha and thanked Solidaridad and partners for championing such initiatives.

Mr Ababio further committed to sharing the knowledge gleaned from the programme, as well as his experience in using the Gold Kacha with other miners to drive adoption.

Promoting responsible gold mining

The Promoting Mercury-free Mining in Ghana project, funded by the US Department of State (USDOS) is a three-year project, implemented by Solidaridad and Pact, an international NGO working with governments, communities, and private partners to make ASM safer, formal and more productive.

The project aims to reduce the use of mercury in Ghana’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector through education, the introduction of better technology, and strengthening supply chains. The project is working with legally registered ASGM groups in the Western, Western North, and Ashanti regions, as well as a range of stakeholders, including government agencies, gold traders, and communities, to achieve two core objectives.

It includes to demonstrate mercury-free gold production through support for the adoption of alternate mineral processing technologies. This technical project focus is bolstered by supporting mines in the development of Mine Plans which will help connect mines with investors, and using the CRAFT code, to support risk monitoring and mitigation, to help stakeholders bolster their due diligence efforts, in the gold supply chain.

The other objectives is to support gold sector stakeholders to achieve obligations of the Minamata Convention through awareness raising, institutional capacity building and demonstrating the business case for mercury-free gold production.

Solidaridad is an international civil society organization with over 50 years of experience in developing solutions to make underprivileged communities more resilient. We currently work in over 40 countries, on five continents, through eight independently supervised regional offices.