The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) has set June 2 for its Sustainable Small Scale Mining Awareness Day.
This is in line with work towards a solution to illegal small scale mining.
At the 2021 mini-graduation for 24 post-graduate students in Tarkwa, the school’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Richard Akwasi Amankwah, said the school will lead a discussion with key stakeholders on sustainable small scale mining for a sustainable environment, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals.
June 2 is significant because that was the day in 1989 that the Small-scale gold Mining Law (PNDC Law 218) was gazetted and the activity regularised in Ghana.
“Talking about sustainable development, the University is focusing research efforts on some of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals as part of the global call to ensure social, economic and environmental sustainability,“ he said
The President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr. Eric Asubonteng, also speaking at the UMaT mini-graduation challenged the graduands to endeavour to use technology to improve Ghana’s extractive sector as well as benefit from GHS 2.5 billion mining services in Ghana.
“Opportunities in the value chain of mining abound for entrepreneurs. The Ghana Chamber of Mines has been spearheading the drive to create an enabling environment for local manufacturing, working with stakeholders such as UMaT, to map out the opportunities in the value chain of the industry.”
“As industry players, our foremost priority is to support local manufacturers to take the commanding heights of the inputs market in order to internalize the associated revenues. The gains from this approach are obvious as the benefit from value addition is highest when inputs are manufactured locally,“ he said.
The Council Chairman of UMaT, Dr. Stephen Saforo Yirenkyi said the future of any serious nation depends on science and technology hence called on government and other stakeholders to support
UMaT’s training activities to drive home the government’s agenda of sustainable development.
