Operation Vanguard set mining equipment in Prestea on fire

Members of Operation Vanguard have torched mining equipment worth millions of cedis belonging to some small-scale illegal miners at Kwame Niampa at the Prestea-Hunni Valley District in the Western Region.

According to reports by Energy FM’s Ansah Benjamin, members of the taskforce, tasked by government to end illegal small-scale mining popularly known as galamsey, ambushed the galamseyers at their mining site on Monday, 28 July 2017 at about 4pm.

Upon seeing the taskforce, the galamseyers abandoned their equipment and ran into the forest.

Members of the taskforce set the abandoned mining equipment, which includes a blower, pumping machine, a plant and grinder, on fire.

Six of the illegal miners were apprehended in the exercise and sent to the Prestea Police Station. The suspects were however transferred to Takoradi in the early hours of Tuesday.

Government has mounted a war against galamsey and warned all illegal small-scale miners to desist from the act or face sanctions when arrested.