Ghana moves to diversify her mineral base

The government is encouraging the exploration and exploitation of industrial minerals, including dimension stones to avert problems associated with the over-reliance on gold, Vice President Aliu Mahama said on Tuesday.

Inaugurating the Association of African Dimension Stone Producers (AFRISTONE) in Accra, Vice President Mahama said the dependency on gold as the major foreign exchange earner had affected the economy negatively in the past few years because of the fluctuations in the market price of the commodity.

He said it had, therefore, become expedient for Ghana and other African countries that were endowed with abundant industrial minerals to promote these for the benefit of local industries, their economies and to create jobs.

"Rocks that can be quarried as dimension stones cover about one-sixth of the land surface of Ghana," he said. However, he added, "only one of the more than 80 medium to large scale quarries in the country cut and polish dimension stones for industrial purposes."

Dimension stone is one that can be cut, dressed and polished into uniformly shaped pieces. They can be used in the housing and road construction sectors as building or decorative materials. Vice President Mahama said the government was reviewing the Minerals and Mining Laws of 1986 to provide incentives to investors, who would locate in remote areas to exploit industrial resources.

The government, he said, had finalised a protocol agreement with the European Union for the provision of 40 million Euros as grant to start a SYSMIN Project for mining sector institutions.

Vice President Mahama commended Afristone, whose members are from various African countries, for their commitment to work together, saying their concerted effort would create a larger market, which was crucial for the growth of their businesses. He said such private partnership initiatives were in line with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which aimed to reduce poverty through the private sector.

Mr Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, Minister of Mines, said preliminary reports on a study carried out to assess the potential of dimension stones indicated the abundance of granite, sandstone, gravels and others. He said other industrial minerals included limestone, kaolin and silica, which he said were being promoted with well-packaged information on their location, properties and uses.

"For instance kaolin was found to be suitable for use as an import substitute in the paint, plastics, pharmaceuticals, rubber and paper industries," the Minister said. Mrs Joyce Wereko-Brobby, Chief Executive of the Chamber of Mines, urged members of Afristone to be guided by international best practices in their exploitation of the minerals for the benefit of the communities in which they operated, the environment and future generations.

She outlined a number of projects being promoted by the Chamber to encourage environmentally friendly and sustainable mining practices, including the Alternative Mining Projects that ensured that citizens of mining communities had other jobs during exploration and thereafter.

Mr Fazie Baksmaty, Interim President of Afristone, underscored the importance of dimension stone, saying they could substitute the use of cement in pavements, walkways and speed rumps.

He said stones had proved their durability in the construction of Jericho, the Great Walls of China and the Egyptian Pyramids, adding that he was happy that their marginalisation with the advent of plastics and other materials had been short-lived. Afristone, Mr Baksmaty said, would, therefore, promote the use of stones in Africa as part of the economic integration process.

At present, he said, 70 per cent of the exports of stones from Africa was from South Africa with a total annual value of 300 million dollars. He said the resources were abundant and varied in many African countries and these must be exploited for the benefit of all. About 50 delegates of Afristone from Ghana, Sudan, South Africa, Nigeria, Lesotho, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia and other countries are attending the meeting.