Partner government to exploit gold deposits — Lands Minister
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has called on the investor community to partner government to establish a large-scale mining operation at Dollar Power in the Bole District of the Savannah Region.
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He said available geological data showed that the Dollar Power enclave was highly mineralised, with huge deposits of gold that made it viable for the establishment of large-scale mining operations.
Dollar Power, formerly known as Sindi Community, is a community along the Ghana – Ivory Coast International Boundary Line in the Savannah Region, and lies about 20km from the district capital, Bole. Inhabitants of this area were raided by slave traders in 1897, leaving the place uninhabited.
However, in 1928, the colonial governments of the then Gold Coast and Ivory Coast, established an International Boundary Line between the two countries, with the erection of boundary pillars at mutually agreed positions.
This Boundary Line was reaffirmed by the two countries in 1973 with the planting of teak trees along the border.
The large deposits of gold in the area, however, attracted people from across both countries, whose activities had led to the destruction of the boundary pillars and the teak trees.
In 2005, a small group of Ghanaians began moving to the area to take advantage of the gold deposits and prevent Ivorians from exploiting the mineral resources.
Gold deposits
Currently, there are about three thousand (3,000) inhabitants in the area, mainly involved in small-scale mining.
The gold deposits in the area have made the people name parts of the community, Dollar Power Obuasi.
Since 2021, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, through the Ghana Boundary Commission, has been working with its counterparts in Ivory Coast to reaffirm the Boundary Lines.
The ministry has also been working with the chiefs and people of the area to regularise their small-scale mining activities.
At a durbar with the chiefs and the people of the community, Mr Jinapor said geological data from the Ghana Geological Survey Authority indicated huge deposits of gold in the area that made the area commercially viable for large-scale mining.
He said the traditional notion that gold was found only in the south no longer holds, as large-scale mining operations were currently taking place in the Upper East and Upper West regions.
According to the Minister, Dollar Power was even more mineralised than some of these areas, and with the right investment, large-scale mining operations could be established to exploit the huge deposits of gold.
Mr Jinapor said to attract the needed investment into the community, which is currently only accessible by water, the government was constructing a 24km feeder road from Ntereso in the Bole District to Dollar Power, and another 25km feeder road from Sapelliga in the Upper East Region to Dollar Power.
He said those constructions being undertaken by the 48 Engineers of the Ghana Armed Forces were far advanced and would be completed by the middle of this year.
Minerals Commission
In addition to the construction of the roads, Mr Jinapor said the government was also committed to bringing community mining to the area to regularise the activities of small-scale miners.
He directed the Minerals Commission and the Ghana Geological Survey Authority to expedite action on the establishment of a community mining scheme.
The Chief of Dollar Power, Sindiwura Mahama Awudu Abott, speaking through his secretary, thanked the government for the road construction which would link the community to other parts of the country.
He said the construction had also enhanced economic and social activities in the area and would ensure effective border control when completed.
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The chief also thanked the government for its commitment to establishing a community mining scheme in the area, as well as bringing large-scale mining operations to the community.