Shandong Gold Cardinal Namdini Mining Limited has successfully resettled some communities in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region to pave way for the building of mining plants for large scale mining activities.
For over two years, the company has been carrying out preparatory works ahead of the commencement of large-scale gold exploration within an approximately 60km square concession.
During a courtesy call on the company by newly elected leaders of the Upper East Regional branch of the Ghana Journalists Association, the Community and Social Responsibility Manager of Cardinal Namdini Mining Company Ltd Emmanuel Kofi Adusei said the company has over the years earned the track record of being amongst the top-rated mining companies in the world and has over the period obtained a clean sheet of records of safety in all its mining activities. This he assured will be replicated in the Talensi area.
“Mining is quite a hazardous industry and so safety is our priority so far as our activities are concerned. For us at Cardinal Namdini Mining, safety is key to us [It is number one]. It is our desire and we work towards that to make sure that our employees and visitors are safe anytime they come to our mine,” he said.
His assurance was in response to a call by Chairman of the Upper East Ghana Journalists Association William Jalula on the company to uphold the highest level of safe mining.
According to Emmanuel Adusei, several steps have been taken already to ensure their activities do not disrupt and pose threats to lives and livelihoods in the area.
He disclosed that two communities namely Accra and Biung, both in the Talensi District needed to be resettled, hence two new communities have been built by the company to move settlers from the two named communities. The newly constructed settlements comprise of detached houses, schools, health facilities, nurses and teachers quarters, bio-digester toilets, electricity, water systems, churches, mosques, football pitches, tarred roads amongst others.
Settlers in the community called Accra have already been moved to their newly constructed community whiles movement for Biung community is expected to be completed in the coming days.
“At the moment we are in the transitional stage moving into the construction phase. As part of the project, we had some communities that are so close to the project [that is] the Accra site and the Biung communities. So, the first thing that we needed to do was to resettle them to be able to have access to the space that we would like to build our mine on. We are also done with the two resettlement projects. Accra site have moved to their new homes. Biung is done, hoping that by this weekend they will also move to their new homes so that we start earthworks. We are going to build our offices, camp, accommodation and the plant itself. So, it will take us about two and half years to finish the construction. When we finish our plant, it will be one of the biggest capacities in the country,” he said.
Emmanuel Adusei further stated that livelihoods restoration initiatives will be rolled out to support vulnerable individuals and families whose livelihoods may be affected by the ongoing works.
