Ghana has become the
largest gold producer in Africa, toppling South Africa in a recent data
released by the World Bank.
The data copied to the Ghana News Agency
said Ghana exported 158 tonnes of gold in 2018, about 15% increase over the
previous year.
Ghana has thus dethroned South Africa, which
produced 139.3 tonnes and returned to the high volumes of the 1980s.
It said mining firms operating in the
country include Newmont Mining Corporation, Gold Fields, Anglogold Ashanti and
Asanko Gold.
It noted rural communities in four regions
of Ghana currently affected by the environmental damage and pollution
associated with destructive artisanal mining and logging practices are to
benefit from a scale-up of the Ghana Forest Investment Program.
The World Bank approved this week an
additional financing of $19.39 million to the programme.
The programme is already implementing
activities focusing on agricultural drivers of deforestation by working with
cocoa farmers and communities to rehabilitate and protect forest reserves.
The additional financing operation aims at
complementing these activities by piloting approaches to and benefits of
reclamation of mining sites, which will reduce erosion currently polluting
public watercourses and engage the private sector in plantation development to
reduce pressure on natural forests.
China tops the global pact followed by Australia, Russia and the United States of America.
Source: GNA
