Government will introduce AI-generated technology to map mineral prospects precisely and a track-and-trace system for gold exports.
President John Dramani Mahama announced this during a dialogue with Civil Society Organisations on galamsey on Friday at the Presidency.
He said the new technology will use seismic mapping from satellites to show exactly where minerals are located.
“Currently, our mineral prospects have not been explored adequately. Happily, there’s new technology generated by AI that allows those with the technology to partner with our geological survey department. And what they do is they shoot seismic from satellites, and they’re able to map out exactly where a mineral prospect is,” he said.
The President explained that the technology will prevent random digging by small-scale miners who currently dig in multiple locations searching for gold.
“Currently, when our small-scale miners get a concession, they go and dig this place. There’s not enough gold there. They leave it. They go and dig there. There’s not enough gold. They leave it. They come and dig here. There’s not enough gold. They get a concession. Today, it’s possible to precisely map out where the mineral prospect is,” he stated.
He said the geological survey department will partner with companies to shoot seismic for Ghana and show where exactly the resources are located.
“Based on that, do PPPs with Ghanaian mining companies that will mine that gold responsibly so that they don’t go around just digging everywhere,” he added.
President Mahama noted that this fits into the track-and-trace system which will be launched to enable Ghana export gold to European countries.
“We cannot export gold to the European countries because of LBMA restrictions. And yet, if we introduce a track-and-trace system, we should not only be able to export to the Asian countries and the Middle East, we should be able to, once the gold has been tracked and it’s known to have come from responsible sources, then we can export it into the LBMA countries,” he said.
He emphasized that the track-and-trace system will allow Ghana to get higher prices for gold.
“That allows us to get a much higher price, you know, for our gold than we currently have,” he stated.
The President said the system will verify responsible sourcing of gold and open up European markets that are currently closed to Ghana.
He explained that small-scale mining is not restricted to Africa or Ghana but is done even in advanced countries.
“There are small-scale mines in Canada, Australia, even in the United States of America. And that’s why when I spoke the other time, I said that we’re contacting some of them so that our small-scale miners’ association, you know, could be sent to go and see that you can do this in a much better way than we’re currently doing,” he said.
President Mahama noted that the University of Mines and Technology has trained many geologists and mining experts.
“The intention is to attach these graduates of UMAT to the district’s mining organizations, and they would help the district mining organizations to go and inspect the small-scale mining industries and make sure that they are doing the right thing,” he added.
He assured CSOs that government will continue to hold dialogues to update them on progress in the fight against illegal mining.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
