20,000 moved to make way for mine

IN the old mining town of Prestea, the signs and impact of large scale mining are evident.

At least 20,000 people were moved off their land by Goldenstar, one of the largest mining companies.

A hole the size of a football stadium lies in the middle of Prestea. The giant mining pit was dug beside a hospital which ultimately had to move because of dangerous vibrations from mining blasts.

The state’s Environment Protection Agency (EPA) admits disasters have affected lands, homes and water supplies.

According to the law, any mineral deposit found belongs to the government, but the owner of the land has the surface rights. Mine companies are obliged to negotiate compensation with owners to obtain plots. The EPA admits the current compensation rates are “quite poor”.

One of the biggest relocation projects saw Goldlfields resettle more than 20,000 people in Tarkwa, south west Ghana.

Controversy has surrounded the EPA’s recent decision to grant the giant US group, Newmont Mining, a permit to dig for gold in a protected forest in eastern Ghana. Objectors say the mine could destroy 183 acres of forest in reserve. Its proposed open pit would be 2.65 kilometres long and half a kilometre deep. Some 9,000 people would lose their land.

In the village of Amwiem in south-west Ghana, villagers are hemmed in by huge mounds of mining waste from the giant AngloGold Ashanti mine. A narrow path, covered by an unused rail line, is the only accessible route in and out for villagers.

Villagers claim drinking water supplies have been contaminated by the sliding mine waste that the rain washes down from the looming mounds of mine waste.

In the nearby village of Dokyiwa, locals claim lethal chemicals from AngloGold Ashanti lands are seeping into their water supplies. There have been 18 “unexplainable” villager deaths.

Just a few hundred metres above the town, AngloGold Ashanti runs a cyanide containment pond. Many of Dokyiwa’s villagers complain of stomach-related illnesses.

AngloGold Ashanti told the Irish Examiner it was aware of Amwiem’s complaints about access to the village and was trying to establish a new access route for villagers. The mining company blamed the mysterious sicknesses in Dokyiwa on villagers who were illegally mining its cyanide pond for scraps of gold.

This project was funded by the SIMON CUMBERS MEDIA CHALLENGE fund, supported by Irish Aid.