Mr Gerard Boakye, Group Corporate Affairs Manager of Golden Star Wassa Limited (GSWL), says the company is set to resume operations at Benso in the Western Region.
In 2023, the company suspended it operations following attack by some illegal miners at the company’s site in Benso.
Mr Boakye explained this to journalists when the company organised the Western Regional stakeholder’s forum in Takoradi.
The forum was attended by officials from the Minerals Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Forestry Commission, Water Resources Commission, Ghana Immigration Services, journalists, among others.
He said over the last couple of months, they have spent several million dollars on drilling, and this has enabled them to set a baseline for mining at Benso site.
According to the Group Corporate Affairs Manager, the current gold price had motivated their efforts, as it’s a common phenomenon in the mining industry.
“In areas where drilling is difficult or expensive, we usually wait for the gold price to reach a level that makes it worthwhile to proceed, so, we take advantage of the higher gold price to justify the cost.
Based on this, we have decided to return to Benso and some of the other pits we had left,” he stated.
Mr Boakye added that “As living beings, we naturally learn from our challenges and mistakes, and we have done just that, so now we will implement measures to enhance our operations.”
He further revealed that the company has had multiple interactions with the community to discuss their plans for Benso to ensure that they have a thorough understanding of their intentions.
Mr Boakye was of the view that “Now we hope that once the community wants this project it is a good start because with our return to Benso, there will be increase activity, including vehicles moving up and down, and people working on site.”
On Thursday, March 16, 2023, some illegal miners attacked the GSWL site in Benso where 12 vehicles, including an ambulance were burnt.
One person was reported dead in the process, while four others sustained injuries.
The illegal miners were said to have invaded a concession of GSWL, to cart away mine dust to prospect for gold, an attempt which was resisted by a team of security men of the mining firm and the police.
The culprits were arrested and arraigned before court for prosecution.
GNA
