The Minerals Development Fund (MDF) has debunked the notion that gold mining requires the use of dangerous chemicals like mercury and cyanide.

The MDF is actively piloting a locally developed, environmentally friendly extraction method to provide a sustainable alternative for small-scale miners.

Dr. Hanna Louisa Bisiw-Kotei, Administrator of the MDF, confirmed the viability of chemical-free gold recovery during an interview with Blessed Sogah on JoyNews' Upfront today, Thursday, December 11, 2025.

Proof of Concept: Chemical-Free Mining Is 'Doable'

Dr. Bisiw-Kotei revealed details of the MDF's partnership with Lion King Engineering and Mining Support Services, a 100% Ghanaian-owned and managed firm, to research and implement practical green mining technologies.

This collaboration is designed to provide viable, safe alternatives to the toxic methods currently devastating Ghana’s environment.

“You can do without using mercury or cyanide, okay?… yes, it’s doable,”She said.

The cornerstone of this initiative is the use of non-chemical gold separation techniques, specifically the shaking table method.

Dr. Bisiw-Kotei explained that this process eliminates the need for highly toxic substances, such as mercury, which is known to cause severe, irreversible neurological damage and birth defects in humans upon exposure, or cyanide, which contaminates water sources and accelerates environmental degradation.

The technology is being deployed through the Modular Sustainable Mining Turnkey Initiative (MDF-MSMTI), which serves as a crucial "learning centre... for capacity building"—a key mandate of the MDF Act, 2016 (Act 912).

“Since people will still go back, you know, and mine, let them do it responsibly, okay? So yes, it’s doable. They have the shaking table method and how they can mine, and as you mine, please cover your pit.”

Addressing the Existential Threat

The Administrator stressed that the push for sustainable methods is critical because illegal mining has moved from remote forests to the very fabric of Ghanaian communities, posing an immediate threat to public safety.

“We are not even talking about a forest, because we don’t go into the forest, but we are within our communities, where you find mining happening in the backyard of schools, in front of health centres, and behind people’s houses.”

She highlighted the human cost of unregulated, toxic mining, noting that she receives graphic evidence of fatalities:

“And if I open my phone, you see dead bodies that people actually take care of. When people die and they bring them out, some snap, some video, and they send it to me, you know, so how do you tackle this?”

By promoting the shaking table and strict pit reclamation, the MDF aims to sanitise the small-scale sector, reduce the alarming rate of pit deaths, and drastically cut down the environmental pollution that poisons local water bodies.

The new approach is set to empower local miners with technology that is not only safer but also often yields better gold recovery rates than dangerous traditional methods, offering a clear path to both profitability and regulatory compliance.