Azumah Resources to develop Wa Gold Project
Azumah Resources Ghana Limited has pledged its commitment to develop its Wa Gold Project in an economically, socially and environmentally acceptable manner and maximize its benefits to all stakeholders.
The Company said it had addressed all legal requirements to establish baseline environmental and social data, identified all positive and negative impacts of the proposed project and actions it would take to mitigate any negative impacts according to the laws of Ghana and international best practices.
Mr Vitus Ngaanuma, Community Relations Manager of the company said this in a statement at a news conference in Wa on Wednesday in response to a petition by the Upper West Civil Society Coalition on mining, food, water and sacred natural sites which was opposed to mining in the region.
The Coalition among other issues raised in their petition said the ecology of the region was too fragile for any large scale mining activities and therefore called on the relevant government agencies not to give their approval for the company to start mining operations in the region.
Mr Ngaanuma however, said 36 different stakeholders from the affected communities, government and non-governmental organizations were consulted this year and all of them were largely satisfied with the report on the project.
Since then, he said all communities likely to be impacted by the project were being regularly updated on Project activities through meetings, notice board communication as well as through the media, while grievances mechanisms had been made available locally.
He stated that developing the project in the region would provide an enormous and exciting opportunity that would stimulate socio-economic development in a sustainable and responsible manner.
The company, according to the Community Relations Manager was not a large company by mining standards and did not yet have a profitable cash flow from the project.
Despite this handicap it had adopted a policy of financing and supporting a number of sustainable projects initiated by the local communities.
These included, the provision of water wells and pumps, hospital equipment, sports equipment, laptop computers shea nut processing assistance, sewing machines and educational facilities in conjunction with the Australian government development to critically monitor and evaluate activities through AusAid.
He said Azumah Resources would continue to adhere to the laws of Ghana and fulfill its commitments towards building mutual beneficial relations with all stakeholders, maintaining a safe and health work environment for employees and communities and contribute to the overall development of the region.
The Company encouraged the Coalition to positively use the “increasing democratic space in national policy development” to critically monitor and evaluate activities in the natural resource sector to augment compliance with laws and regulations.
Azumah resources, which is an Australian Mineral prospecting company began prospecting for Gold in the region in 2005 and discovered deposits of a little over two million ounces of the metal in the Nadowli and Wa East districts of the region.
It is currently awaiting the Environmental Protection Agency permit and mining lease to begin the mine construction stage next year.
Source: GNA