Mantrac holds seminar for miners
Small and medium-scale (SMS) miners, numbering about 300, contribute about 35 per cent of the total gold production in Ghana. That is compared to the over 25 large-scale mining companies which contribute the remaining figure. This is according to heavy equipment company, Mantrac Ghana.
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Subsequently, the mining equipment supplier has put together a customised service for the small and medium-scale (SME) mining sub-sector to help them access CAT equipment for their operations.
At a one-day forum organised by Mantrac Ghana for SMs mining operators in the Western Region, the company also shared knowledge with participants on how they could reduce their operational cost and maximise profits using CAT machines.
“Ghana has over 25 large-scale mining firms and over 300 registered small and medium-scale mining firms which are responsible for about 35 per cent of the total gold production in Ghana. There is, therefore, the need to extend customised support to this category,” the Machine Sales Manager of Mantrac, Mr Edem Eworyi, said in an address at the forum on behalf of the managing director.
The forum
The event was attended by selected mining firms within the western territory of the country. It created a platform for the local mining firms to interact with the technical experts from Mantrac and Caterpillar who enlightened them on the latest Caterpillar mining applications to enhance their SMS mining operations.
He said the company was committed to supporting the businesses of SME miners due to the huge contribution they made to the country’s economic development.
Mr Eworyi said Mantrac embarked on this exclusive forum to help the SMEs access best practices in equipment selection, maintenance, financing and customised after- sales support in addition to environmentally friendly operations.
Speaking to the media after the forum, Mr Eworyi stressed that the company recognised the importance of SMS mining to the economy of Ghana and the need to support their efforts so that they could contribute their quota more effectively to the development of the country.
It is the third time Mantrac has organised such a seminar and Mr Eworyi called on the miners to take advantage of the customised financial solutions provided by CAT Finance to expand their machine fleet and increase production.
Demonstrations
The System Application Specialist for Africa/Middle East, Mr Steven Faucher, took participants through small/medium-scale mining Fleet Selection for Surface Gold Mining using local examples with demonstration videos.
He advised SMS miners to know what they really wanted when purchasing a machine, especially the capacity of the bucket, saying, “You can make more money by using the right Caterpillar machine to work. Try as much as possible to maintain the machines you work with to save time and cost.”
He also encouraged them to be abreast of the new techniques in the system to make work easy.
