Newmont Ghana defends Akyem Project operation

Accra, May 26, GNA - Newmont Ghana on Wednesday denied that the intention of the mining company to pump water from River Pra for the Akyem Project would reduce the volume of water of the river and eventually dry it up.

Ms Adiki Ayitevie, Regional Communications Manager, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra to react to a number of media reports about the company said the Water Resources Commission (WRC) has guidelines on water drawn from rivers for mining purposes. She said the levels of water pumped for mining when production begins at the project site would be monitored by the commission. "The regulatory agency mandated to ensure that water pumped for mining purposes does not adversely impact downstream usage including communities' water usage patterns.

"The Water Resources Commission will give the Akyem Project a Water Use Permit and Schedule indicating the volume of water and periods water can be pumped.

"As part of the monitoring process, the Project will be required to regularly submit its water usage patterns and the amounts drawn from the River Pra. Pumping is not allowed during the dry seasons due to low water levels and water runoff during the rainy season will be stored for usage during the dry season. We will be recycling water within the Plant to minimise drawing water from the rivers." Ms Ayitevie said the company would also be required to install a water level gauge as a means to ensure that pumping of water was not above the set water level.

She said to ensure that the company was operating within the approved drawn down levels, the WRC regularly conducts field trips to ascertain water usage pattern and adherence to the issued Water Permit and this would apply to the Akyem Project when production commences. Ms Ayitevie also touched on reports that the company's activities in the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve would destroy rivers such as Sentrifa, Awro, Adenkyensu, Akwasi Akwasi, Aprapun, Yayaa, Adotosu, which have their source from the forest reserve.

She explained that the proposed Akyem Project footprint is not in the course of any rivers perennially flowing through the broader Birim North area.

She said watercourses that drain the Akyem Project Area and flow into the Pra and Mamang rivers (including those emanating from the Ajenjua Bepo Forest Reserve) are ephemeral and flow only during the wet seasons (totaling about four months a year) when they have sufficient magnitude to cause water runoff.

"Three of the ephemeral streams, Akwasi - Akwasi, Adenttonsu and Yaayaa streams, located within the Project area, which flow only during the wet season will be impacted by the project. The watercourses of these rivers would be channeled through drains.

"Plans will be made to divert these drainages around the open pit and other mine features to route the runoff water into the receiving streams, minimising the change in portions of the stream channel caused by the project. The locations of these drainages have been established. "Because these drainages do not host perennial (constantly flowing) streams, the impact of removing portions of these drainages through mine development on the broader watershed (including the Mamang and Pra rivers) is minimal.

Ms Ayitevie said the Ajenua Bepo (Ajenua Mountain) which is the highest in the area supports rainfall and promotes agriculture. She said the area to be mined within the Ajenjua Bepo Forest reserve makes up only about 3.8 per cent of the total footprint of the Akyem Project mining area.

"The rest of the project area will be situated outside Ajenjua Bepo forest. The small fraction (seven per cent, representing 44 hectares) of the 569 hectares Ajenjua Bepo forest that will be directly impacted by our mining activity is in poor condition with only small true forest patches and poor connectivity to other forest communities.

She said a number of investigators including V. Hawthorne and M. Abu-Juam have classified the forest area as degraded and a secondary forest. "The impacted forest area forms in its entirety, 0.04 per cent of the over 18,000 hectares of total District forest reserve area. This land size will not have a lasting impact on rainfall levels of the area. All surface land disturbance areas will be revegetated during and after the mine operation. Ms Ayitevie said the lands would return to their normal hydrologic function in terms of rainfall runoff and retention. "This notwithstanding, Newmont has, since early 2007, also installed a fully equipped meteorological (weather) station within the proposed mining area to collect and record data on and monitor wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, temperature, evaporation, and humidity. "These data are validated, entered into the project data base and are periodically reported. This information will continue to be collected and monitored throughout the life of the mine and through the reclamation period. The Regional Communications Manager said Newmont Ghana continues to support project that impacts on the lives of farmers and individuals within their operational areas. She said ahead of actual mining in Akyem, the company had already invested $460,000 in training people in the Akyem community in various alternative livelihood programmes including batik/tie-and-dye, soap-making through the Opportunities Industrialisation Centres International and Organisation for Livelihood Enhancement Services as at December 2009. She said at the Ahafo Mine, Newmont Ghana had invested more than $16 million on crop compensation and $21 million on livelihood re-establishment and training and empowering of farmers.

Ms Ayitevie said under the Agricultural Improvement and Land Access Programme of the company farmers had received support to access new lands and markets, extension services and opportunities after receiving their compensation entitlement, between 2006 and 2009 alone. She said other farmers in the area who were affected by the Ahafo Mine were participating in another Newmont community development programme, the Ahafo Agri-business Growth Initiative. "More than 2,500 farmers have taken advantage of this programme and have significantly improved their farming practices. "We are committed to replicating these programmes in Akyem to restore and improve the livelihoods of farmers there, taking into account all the relevant lessons learnt from Ahafo and the peculiar conditions prevailing in Akyem.

Ms Ayitevie said farmers, whose crops were disturbed during the Akyem Project mining area declaration and the recent exploration activity, would be compensated as required by the Minerals and Mining law.

" We have also publicly committed that every individual with farms and immovable properties, which have or will be impacted by our Akyem Project, will be duly compensated consistent with the express provisions in the Minerals and Mining Law and relevant provisions in the Constitution of Ghana. "As part of the process of demarcating and declaring the Akyem mining area as required by law, crops were disturbed during the boundary clearing. "Immediately after the boundary clearing, community durbars were held in the impacted communities within the Akyem Project area to discuss details about the declaration of the mining area. "The urgency that was required at the time to get the boundary clearly demarcated for farmers and landowners to know those falling within the mining area have been explained to the affected farmers. "Farmers whose crops were affected during the boundary line cutting have visited their farms with Newmont field officers to inspect, count and sign off on the affected crops for the necessary compensation process to ensue," she said.

Ms Ayitevie said: "Their complaints have also been formally registered at our Akyem Project Office's grievance and complaints unit for redress and peaceful settlement. They have been assured payment of their compensation. " The majority of them have accepted initial compensation based on the current compensation rates, which is to be topped up with the accrued difference based on the rates to be agreed on during the ongoing compensation negotiations.

Ms Ayitevie said the process of determining due compensation was on going, through the 66-member Compensation Negotiation Committee in Akyem that has the mandate of the communities in the project area to negotiate compensation on crops, immovable properties, and land deprivation and resettlement issues.

She noted that farmers have continued with their normal farming activities in Newmont operational areas to ensure food security. She said they access their farms by footpaths and are not being checked nor searched as they are free to carrying on with their farming activities. Ms Ayitevie said however, check points have been mounted on roads leading into the declared mining area to deter people intending to upgrade their existing crops and buildings or those planning to start new farms or erect new buildings from doing so.

"The Minerals and Mining Act stipulates the rights of both the holder of a mining lease and that of a landowner and or farmer as follows: "The lease holder must not hinder the lawful occupier from hunting, gathering firewood, grazing livestock and farming. within the area covered by the mining lease if these activities do not interfere with mining operations. Act 703 Section 72(3). "The Owner or Lawful Occupier of land in the mining area must seek permission from the lease holder before erecting any structure or building and upgrading crops in the mining area. Act 703 Section 72 (4, 6). "For corroboration and monitoring purposes, community members including the youth and farmers have been recruited to support the Akyem Project in its crops and structures enumeration and verification exercise. "This is part of the process of getting community buy in and minimising conflict within the community about the enumeration and validation process while creating job opportunities for community members." 26 May 10