Newmont allays public fear

Ntotroso (B/A), April 3, GNA - Newmont Ghana Gold Limited says it is committed to working with all relevant regulatory agencies to investigate the cause of death of tilapia fingerlings in one of its environmental control dams at its Ahafo mine area.

The company said in a statement made available to the Ghana News Agency that the results of both its internal and third party investigations into the case would be made public.

The statement explained that Newmont Ahafo mine, like other mines of its type elsewhere in the world, "uses small, artificial dams to control surface water run off and stop sediments entering natural water courses".

There are four of such dams at the Ahafo mine.

The statement said over time, due to natural causes, the dams had developed a small fish population.

"With the end of a dry season with lower than normal rainfall and with high seasonal temperatures, the dam water chemistry has changed significantly.

"Isolated heavy storms at the beginning of the wet season cause rapid changes to water conditions and impose shocks to fish stocks and in some cases result in fish losses", the gold mining company explained. Last week, mine personnel discovered a similar case of the death of tilapia fingerlings in one of the dams.

The company said the Ahafo mine environment department had informed the EPA and the mines department and samples of the water and the dead fishes had been taken for laboratory analysis internally and also for the third party investigation.

It said such an incident occurred last year at one of the dams, but toxicological analysis by the Ghana Standard Board found no evidence of pesticide or poisons as the causes of death of the fishes.

The statement gave the assurance that Newmont Ghana was fully committed to the highest standards of environmental stewardship and disclosing all aspects of its mine operations in Ghana.