PRELIMINARY TEST CONFIRMS GOLD IN ELMINA

by Caleigh McLelland & Benjamin Price (Projects Abroad)

Some Gold that was extracted from the soil at the beach

Before its independence, Ghana was called the Gold Coast by its British colonisers; and rightly so. Ghana has been a world leader in the export of gold for centuries, but until recent weeks, most people were unaware that gold existed in Elmina.

Rumours spread that the indigenous peoples of Elmina had been mining gold in the area. Since this discovery was made, the government has sent a Geological Survey Team to Elmina to confirm these findings so they can decide whether the gold quantities have potential commercial value.

 “The government wants to know if the gold is of commercial quantity,” said Edmund Houphouet, Public Relations Officer of the KEEA Municipal Assembly. “Once they know this, they will discuss the pros and cons.”

Some Volunteers of the Geological Survey Department

The Geological Survey Team will report to the government by Friday, and an official report will be published by the end of the month.

“What we intend to do now is to fast-track the process of ensuring that we investigate and find exactly what is in the deposits,” stated Minister of Land and Mineral Resources Mike Hammah. “Once the deposits are in, we will be sure to come out and let the people know exactly what the situation is.”

Despite the uncertainty as to how much gold there is at Elmina, an official from the Geological Survey Team said he has seen some promising results from the tests that have been carried out so far.

“We have dug eight pits, and four seem encouraging,” he said.

Some of the fisherfolk fishing for Gold

Yet even with such encouraging results, it is believed that there will not be enough gold for commercial use. This is not only due to the quantities that have been discovered so far, but also due to the narrow area between the homes of locals that line the beach and the sea, which would make it difficult for serious mining of the extremely valuable mineral.

Furthermore, as it is not feasible at the moment to consider mining for gold at sea, there is a possibility that tests will be carried out later on at sites further inland in order to establish where exactly the gold deposits at Elmina beach have come from.