Digaare (U/E)-Ghana, Sept 28, GNA – The Cardinal Namdini Gold Limited, a subsidiary of Shandong Gold, a Chinese mining firm, will begin large scale gold production in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region by the last quarter of 2024, all things being equal.
This will become one of the largest single stream gold mines in the West African Sub-region and largest single stream mine in Ghana.
The area is a green field and it is expected to generate about 150 million tonnes of ore, resulting in five million ounces of gold in the next 15 years.
Mr Steve Ofori Asamoah, the Project Manager, Cardinal Namdini Gold Project, revealed this when Dr Sulemana Koney, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, led a delegation to visit the mine in the Talensi District.
The visit was to familiarise themselves with the operations of the mine, which is a member of the Ghana Chamber of Mines.
To achieve its target, the management was investing appropriately US$1 billion dollars to build its infrastructure base, including operational offices and staff accommodation, access roads, electricity, processing plants, water and tailings storage facilities, among other things, he said.
“Quite apart from that, we also have the explosive magazines, our camp, abstraction pits where we are connecting the White Volta to be used as processing water for the processing plant, mining services area and all these are under construction.”
Apart from the relocation of the two communities; Biung and Digaare, with the construction of 121 urban type residential accommodation, fitted with modern facilities to allow for commercial production next year, the company was interested in ensuring local participation in its operations.
In terms of employment, a local content policy had been developed to engage more locals and Ghanaian nationals when mining begins.
Currently, about 1,024 people have been employed in the construction phases with the majority of them being Ghanaians.
“For now, 54 per cent of the workers we have are locals, 44 people are from outside Upper East Region and two per cent are expatriates but by December, we will do a lot of employment because we will be doing structure, mechanical, plate work and piping and equipment installation.”
Mr Asamoah said the company was engaging with the Government to construct an airport to facilitate transportation and operations of the company.
“Initially, the company’s plan was to do an airstrip for the purposes of our bullions and employees moving outside the Upper East Region, but we had a consultation with the Government and it wanted us to do an airport, so, we are still negotiating. The amount has been approved for the construction,” he said.
The design has started and the company was engaging the Ghana Aviation Authority for the way forward.
Dr Koney commended the mine for the investment in infrastructure and the stakeholder involvement, and urged it to deepen the collaboration with stakeholders to prevent conflict and misunderstanding.
He urged the management to be transparent and work to address stakeholder concerns.
