| Akyem Proposed Mine, Ghana The Denver-based Newmont Mining Corporation is planning to place an open pit gold mine in the Ajenjua Bepo Forest Reserve in the Birim North District in the Eastern region of Ghana.
If developed, the Akyem mine would occupy an area 1.65 miles long (2.6 km) and a half mile across (.8 km), and would create waste piles 60-100 m high. The mine would destroy an estimated 183 acres (74 ha) of forest in the reserve, threatening the Reserve's noted diverse wildlife and plant species, including several rare species of birds, amphibians, and mammals, and displacing the farming communities that live around the forest.1
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Village of Yayaaso in eastern Ghana. The Akyem proposed mine would displace the entire village. Credit: Ute Hausmann / FIAN
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Community groups in the Akyem area, including the Concerned Farmers Association at New Abriem, have protested against Newmont's mining plan and the inadequate compensation Newmont has offered for ruining their lands and livelihoods. They have gathered over 200 petition signatures to present to the Ghanaian government.2 "We have been spending sleepless nights thinking about the trauma of relocation, loss of farmlands and livelihood, new diseases especially the upsurge in malaria cases as a result of the open pits and other stagnant pools of water in the open trenches that will be created in the area by Newmont Ghana Gold Limited," said Akosua Nsia of Yayaaso, one of the communities in the mine's direct footprint area.3
The Ajenjua Bepo Forest Reserve is one of the rare forest reserves in Ghana. Much remains unknown about the biodiversity of the area, but an unpublished study demonstrated that the reserve serves as an important habitat for several important species. These include a tree frog and a flying squirrel that are of serious conservation concern.4 The Reserve is also critically important to farmers in the area because of how its hills and forests promote rainfall and a steady water supply. They are concerned about the impacts the mine could have on their water and the crops that the local communities rely on.5
In addition, the mining could severely contaminate water supplies in the area. Ghana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expressed concern that the mine's waste rock dump would result in pollution that could have serious public safety implications.6
For more information on the impacts the Akyem mine would have and on critical technical reviews of the mine plans, see Akyem details.
Help protect the communities and forests of the area by urging the government in Ghana to deny the permit.
[updated 25 August, 2008]
- Mike Anane, "Dispute over Newmont's proposed gold mine at Akyem." Public Agenda, Oct. 16, 2006, www.ghanaweb.com/public_agenda/article.php?ID=5998.
- "Farmers resist Newmont operations in Ajenua Bepo Forest." Public Agenda, March 31, 2008.
- Mike Anane, "Dispute over Newmont's proposed gold mine at Akyem." Public Agenda, Oct. 16, 2006, www.ghanaweb.com/public_agenda/article.php?ID=5998.
- "Preliminary Report on Ajenjua Bepo and Mamang River Forest Reserves." Rapid Assessment Program Survey, Ghana, West Africa. 24 August - 4 September 2006. Unpublished report. Conservation International - Ghana.
- "Farmers resist Newmont operations in Ajenua Bepo Forest." Public Agenda, March 31, 2008.
- Mike Anane, "Dispute over Newmont's proposed gold mine at Akyem." Public Agenda, Oct. 16, 2006, www.ghanaweb.com/public_agenda/article.php?ID=5998.
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