According to Ghana's president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, commercial amounts of lithium and other green minerals have been found there.
He said that because of the terrible experience of less profit from more than a century of gold mining, the government was putting procedures in place to guarantee that this did not happen when lithium was discovered in the country.
"I can guarantee you that we will do all it takes to make sure that the extraction and use of these green minerals are done in a way that assures both the greatest possible benefits to the people of Ghana and a minimal impact on the environment.
We will never give in on this, he said.
adding value to bauxite and iron ore
Additionally, President Akufo-Addo stated that the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development By establishing a corporation in 2018, the government aimed to guarantee that bauxite resources added value through refinement, smelting, and the manufacturing of aluminum, as well as the creation of other downstream aluminum goods.
With an estimated bauxite resource base of over 900 million metric tons, the sector could serve as an anchor for the country's industrialization if value-added policies were pursued, he said, adding that the implementation of the various stages of the projects was expected to optimize production in the upstream industry and increase production and job creation in the downstream sector.
In his remarks at the two-day Natural Resources Stakeholders Dialogue in Accra, President Akufo-Addo said that the commercial finding of lithium occurred in cobalt, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, and silver occurrences. National Conversation
The Graphic Communications Group Limited is hosting the discussion, which will focus on the following subject in association with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources:
The phrase "Harnessing Our Natural Resources Responsibly for Our Sustainable Collective Good"
President Akufo-Addo noted that the sector minister was finalizing a policy document on the exploitation, use, and management of these essential minerals for the consideration of the Cabinet in the coming weeks in order to prevent the exploitation of gold and other resources from happening again.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIIDEC) and the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) statutes gave the sector minister the authority to create regulations to prevent the export of any bauxite or iron ore.
raw state five years after these laws were in effect.
He promised, "We will see to it that the highest values of these resources are kept in our nation.
Truth
He stated that many African countries settled for less and had, until recently, failed to put in place the necessary frameworks that would have allowed them to establish the highest ends of the value chains of the extractive industries on the continent due to corruption, incompetence, and political instability, along with, mostly, shortsightedness in these negotiations.
Increasing profits for mining firms at the cost of host communities, towns, cities, and nations, he claimed, would lead to problems like tax and royalty exemptions, unpleasant labor practices, the absence of value addition, and all of the aforementioned not being promoted as one of the behaviors that the government would not tolerate.
President Akufo-Addo stated, "We cannot make the same mistakes again." He noted that, although it was clear that the mining firms needed to earn a profit to stay in business, it was crucial that this wasn't done at the expense of the lands and the native populations that produced the resources.
According to him, the nation should utilize its natural resources for sustainable growth in a way that prevents environmental destruction.
He said that the development of the regions where such resources were obtained, the payment of sufficient compensation to impacted populations, and environmental preservation were all concerns that needed to be addressed in mining contracts.
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