Mr Benito Owusu-Bio, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources has assured government’s unflinching support towards this year’s maiden edition of the Ghana Gold Expo to be held in Takoradi in the Western Region.

The Deputy Minister said government’s agenda was to promote responsible gold, as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made a commitment to the local communities to clean-up and stop the environmental problems associated with illegal mining.

“We believe with this government’s policy, both small and large scale miners will increase their capacity to enable the country meet the 30 per cent refined product,” he said.

This was in a statement signed by Mr Emmanuel Treku, the Secretary of Ghana Gold Expo and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

According to the statement, the Deputy Minister pledged government’s support during a courtesy call by Dr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Western Regional Minister and planning committee members on the upcoming Expo scheduled from March 8 to 10, 2020.

The Deputy Minister commended the team for their innovative ideas and hardwork, adding that the strategic options to drive responsible mining and sustainable economic growth in the industry would require multiple approaches and new technologies.

Dr Darko-Mensah stated that the historic event would showcase Ghana’s source of gold, its position as the first in gold production in Africa, refinery capacity and government policy to promote responsible gold as we eliminate mercury in gold extraction.

Mr Steven Blessing Ackah, the Convener of the Expo, said the event would serve as a platform in recognising Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Miners (ASGM) as stakeholders, and explore community engagement and social investment priorities as launched by President Akufo-Addo dubbed: ‘Community Mining Scheme’.

Mr Johan Zietsman, the Director of Gold Recovery Ghana, said the event was part of a vision to implement the Minamata Convention Guiding Principles on Mercury, which Ghana signed in 2014 and ratified in 2017.

During the expo, there will be interactions with ASGM and local communities through the provision of appropriate grievance mechanisms.

The Expo is under the auspices of the Western Regional Coordinating Council and Aurum Monaco, partners of ViewTag Ghana which seeks to collaborate with consumers, downstream supply chain and investors to address key environmental issues in conformance with responsible Gold Mining.