The Minerals Development Fund (MDF) has launched an environmentally sustainable mining initiative to reduce water and land degradation in small-scale mining.

The MDF Modular Sustainable Mining Turnkey Initiative employs green technologies, closed-loop water recycling, and mercury-free gold processing methods.

Administrator of the Minerals Development Fund, Dr. Hanna Louisa Bisiw-Kotei, revealed that the initiative is expected to reduce the negative impact of small-scale mining on the environment.

“This initiative deliberately incorporates land reclamation and biodiversity conservation to ensure that mining no longer leads to environmental destruction but is transformed into a regenerative process for the renewal of our soil,” she said.

She spoke at the launch of the RoyzGold Eco-Dig Modular Sustainable Mining Site in the Ahafo Region, the first of MDF’s modular sustainable mining turnkey initiatives to be deployed all over the country.

RoyzGold, a small-scale mining company, partnered with the Minerals Development Fund in establishing the site.

The small-scale mining sector has been a government priority due to illegal activities by some miners, which threaten environmental sustainability.

Established in 2016, the Minerals Development Fund was mandated to address the negative impacts of mining in mining communities. The modular sites being implemented in the small-scale mining sector form part of the measures to fulfill this mandate.

“Through its Modular Sustainable Mining Turnkey Initiative (MDF-MSMTI), the MDF is implementing the beginning of a permanent solution to Ghana’s most pressing challenge: the extreme danger to human health and the unpardonable environmental degradation caused by illegal, irresponsible, and unsustainable mining practices,” Dr. Bisiw-Kotei added.

A Tour of the MDF Modular Sustainable Mining Site

The first MDF-MSMTI site is built on an already mined area, with part of the destroyed land reclaimed for the project.

Mining areas at the site are selected based on geological surveys conducted by experts. Once the layout is finalized, contractors set up all necessary amenities for operations.

Tailings dams are constructed with filtration systems, where filters are mounted in canals to clean the water used in washing gold deposits.

Recycled water from the dams support boreholes dug to provide water for mining activities.

The process eliminates the use of mercury and cyanide, instead employing a shaking board process that retains up to 90% of the gold.

Sand is separated from the precious metal, and waste is further heated to extract remaining gold deposits, which are collected in cotton.

Chief Executive Officer of Lion King Engineering and Mining Support Services, James Opoku, explained,“The process helps us attract all the gold. We lose about ten percent, which is still more profitable than using mercury or cyanide.”

The site is properly laid out with road infrastructure, an office complex, workers’ quarters, and security checkpoints. It was designed and constructed by Lion King Engineering, a Ghanaian-managed engineering company. The technology also makes provision for land reclamation.

Small-Scale Miners Welcome the Initiative

The Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners has expressed interest in replicating the technology at various mining sites.

Representing the Association at the launch, Richard Graham Okine noted that in the absence of a government-backed framework, miners had resorted to crude methods that led to environmental destruction.

“When our industry needed mechanization, we saw the influx of technology from foreign partners, largely from China. Our members adopted these technologies not out of defiance, but out of necessity.”

He emphasized that the Association has welcomed the initiative after a careful study of the site.

“The small-scale miners are willing, ready, and prepared to accept the initiative MDF has introduced,” he added