Ghana in catch 22 situation: Atuabo sits on prime silica deposit

The Atuabo Gas Processing Plant has been found to be sitting on a gold bearing geological belt and the best silica reserve in the country, thereby limiting the country's potential to generate revenue from the resource when its commercial viability is ascertained in future.

Silica is the raw material for the manufacturing of glass and solar panels, and could provide the solution to the country's renewable energy quest.

The revelation, which was made by a an industry expert at a stakeholders consultative meeting on the Review of Alignment between the African Mining Vision and Ghana's Policy, Legal and Institutional Frameworks for Solid Minerals, last December, raised serious concern about weak inter-agency collaboration between the Geological Survey Department, the various natural resources regulatory bodies, the National Development Planning Commission and the district assemblies, leading to poor spatial planning and squandering in the process opportunities for optimising the socio-economic outcomes of land use in the country.

A Public Agenda source within the Ghana Geological Survey Department, who wants to remain anonymous because of service rules, has confirmed to the paper that indeed the Atuabo area is endowed with some silica deposits.

“Yes, there is silica deposit at Atuabo, and it is not a secret because the Geological Survey Department has made that known,” the official submitted.

He indicated that the Department is yet to ascertain the commercial viability of the silica deposits in the area. Asked whether the Gas Plant is sitting on silica deposit, he answered: “Because there is silica at Atuabo, we cannot zoom in and say that the Ghana Gas plant is sitting on the prime land where the deposits are.”

Experts have blamed poor land use planning as a major setback to Ghana's development efforts. They argue that the situation has led to imprudent decisions, such as allowing large-scale mining in forest reserves. Dr Yao Graham, Coordinator of Third World Network-Africa, and a participant at the workshop argued strongly in favour of a national policy that compels the consideration of alternative land uses in arriving at a decision as to whether or not to extract a resource. The Government, however, makes such a commitment in its 2014 Minerals and Mining Policy document. Section 11 of the policy document, under 'Land Use' commits “to continuously examine land use options and make a choice between mining and other forms of activity on the basis of long-term and strategic considerations”.

Participants were in agreement that the Atuabo case has come about due to lack of comprehensive geological or mineral information as well as the absence of coherent and reliable resource auditing mechanism for mineral exploitation in the country.

The dilemma that the Atuabo case poses is particularly interesting because while Ghana needs its gas for providing cheaper and more reliable supply of electricity, its silica potential offers the best opportunity for operationalising its renewable energy programme articulated by its renewable energy policy of 2010.

Section 4.5 of the Ghana Energy Policy spells out the goals of Ghana's renewable energy sub-sector as “increasing the proportion of renewables in the total national energy mix and ensuring its efficient production and use”.

The policy document identifies, among others, the urgent need to ensure a reduction in the high costs of solar and wind energy technologies, which make them uncompetitive; and the need to engage Ghanaian engineers and scientists to cooperate with international experts to bring down the cost of solar and wind energy technologies as some of the major challenges confronting the renewable energy sub-sector.

But experts do not see how the high cost of solar panels could be reduced without directing investments into the country's silica potential. The mining of silica for the production of glass and solar panels, they argue, will afford Ghana the best opportunity to integrate mining into the rest of its economy and help achieve its policy goal of making solar power affordable to the majority of its people.

Ghana's boldest effort at making use of its silica was during the era of the country's first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah when he established the Abosso Glass Factory in the Western Region to manufacture glass and bottles for domestic use and exports. Ghana at the time was energy sufficient and so solar panels and for that matter renewable was not topical in the context of the country's development discourses.

In 2008, the Kufuor Government, through its Minister of Trade and Industries, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, disclosed that it had initiated measures at resuscitating the Abosso Glass Factory, of course not with solar power in mind.

Dr Apraku pledged the government's support to potential investors who would be willing to explore the possibility of manufacturing glasses and bottles to feed local soft drink and alcoholic beverage industries. Dr. Apraku gave the assurance during a tour of the facilities of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company Ghana Limited, in Accra, where he discovered that the company depended on imported bottles, thereby increasing the cost of production. He announced on that visit that government had provided $2.5 million for the rehabilitation of the Abosso Glass factory.