Geological investigation is crucial to fighting galamsey- Minerals Commission

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission, Martin Ayisi, has called for an investment in a geological investigation, indicating that the lack of it has resulted in the illegal mining menace today.

According to him, unlike large-scale miners, the people who engage in illegal mining do not spend time exploring the environment; rather, they dig around to search for the gold, and that results in the disruption of the environment.

“So what we have not done well as a nation over the years is to invest in what we call geological investigation. That is the number one problem. Because they [small-scale miners] don’t do exploration, and it costs millions of dollars,” he said.

The CEO, Martin Ayisi, further added that by making budgetary allocations to institutions such as the Ghana Geological Survey Authority, they could assist them with investigations into the geological research that will help the minerals commission issue licenses to small-scale miners.

“What are we supposed to do every year? Get something out of the budget and hand it over to the appropriate institution. Fortunately, we have a public institution like the Geological survey; give them the money, they do the exploration, and we parcel out the place,” he added.

He was speaking on Joy News’ NewsFile which is monitored by GhanaWeb.

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NW/OGB