Vice president and flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has highlighted the dangers of illegal mining and outlined strategies he would rollout to deal with the menace if elected president come December 7.

Illegal mining, according to the vice president, poses a real threat to the country's quest to add value to its gold resources by tainting the ore.

He has therefore urged managers of a newly commissioned gold refinery, the Royal Ghana Gold Refinery to ensure that its entire feed stock is responsibly sourced.

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Addressing dignitaries at the premises of the refinery, he said, "There is therefore a compelling reason, more than ever to ensure that we nib the menace of galamsey in the bud to ensure responsible mining and safeguard our environment and water bodies," he said.

He also added that, "Our overarching objective for dealing decisively with the galamsey menace and enhancing the small-scale mining sector is to improve lives and livelihoods and protect the environment. Our approach will be five-pronged".

"Part of the reasons for galamsey is because there are no properly documented geological surveys indicating areas with proven reserves. This problem causes miners, mainly illegal miners and some small-scale license-holding miners to dig everywhere and anyhow (haphazardly) in search for gold and eventually destroy large parcels of lands with little or no success of finding gold. I believe that having proper data on areas with proven reserves for small-scale mining will avert the problem of trial and error digging and optimise land use."

"In view of the above, the next NPP government under my presidency will adequately provide the Geological Survey Department and our universities with resources annually to investigate and undertake mapping of areas where we have mineral resources".

A minimum of US$10 million will be invested in this geological investigation of mineralised zones from 2025 as part of his strategy to deal with galamsey.

"Many people opt to mine without a license because of delays and bureaucracies as well as high costs in acquiring mining licenses. To address this challenge, we will amend the existing mining law to ensure that the entire licensing regime from application to the grant of small-scale mining license will end at the Minerals Commission with the involvement of our chiefs and district assemblies. This will also require that we decentralise the operations of the minerals commission and environmental protection agency to all mining districts".

These among others, the vice president says, will be his strategy of ending the illegal mining menace in Ghana.