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Small Scale MiningThere are major challenges ahead for small-scale mining in Ghana. With the advent of the new Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act in 2002, many previously disadvantaged Ghana have begun to see small-scale mining as a way to a new life. The government has, through the former Department of Minerals and Energy now DMR, established the Directorate of Small-Scale Mining to develop and address the challenges faced by the small-scale mining sector.
It is essential that small-scale miners in Ghana become integrated into the greater Ghana mining community and that the sector becomes streamlined it into the mainstream economy. As a result, the Ghana government has taken active measures to promote the development of this sector.
The small-scale mining sector includes:Artisanal or subsistence mining operations (new entrants);Sub-optimal formal mining operations; andEntrepreneurs with upfront capital.
The department is working to legalise the small-scale mining operations that currently exist, and find ways to help make them economically viable in a way that is relevant, understandable and affordable to small-scale miners.
The Directorate of large scale mining and small-scale mining plant assists aspiring small-scale miners in the following ways:
Establishment of a legal entity;Guidance towards the identification of mineral deposits;Environmental impact assessment (EIA);Legal and contractual arrangements, mineral rights etcetera;Reserve estimation of the selected deposits;Mining feasibility study;Market study;Development of the mining equipment.
A Small-Scale Mining Board has been set up as a point of delivery for the services required by the small-scale mining sector. It co-ordinates a substantial amount of expert capacity and experience and specialises in planning and developing a viable mining project through the pre-feasibility stages. The contribution of each board member is essential for professional development of a successful mining project.
Small Scale Mining InfoGenerally, the beginning and the end of most mineral and mining process plant design, is the prospecting phase. This is because most prospectors are not geologists and have not had the experience and education required to comprehend the nature and origin of mineral and metal deposits in the earth.
I have seen too many so called "mines", particularly gold mines, that had a "lot of gold" based on a hand full of rocks sent to an assay lab. Generally, these "mines" turned out to be rock collections, and the assay lab a bunch of quacks or Frauds, pretending to be assayers. The second rule of prospecting is if the deposit is not economically viable, it is a Rock Collection. Economic viability simply means that it costs less to extract the valuable mineral or metal than the value of the mineral or metal extracted. Without the knowledge of a mining engineer and a metallurgical or process engineer, the determination of mining and processing a deposit is somewhat of a Wild Guess.
