"FoN urges gov’t to stop use of mercury in gold mining", 28 March 2017

A socio-environmental advocacy NGO based in the Western Region, the Friends of the Nation (FoN), has urged government to rope in relevant stakeholders in its bid to reduce and eliminate the use of mercury in small-scale gold mining. This follows Ghana’s ratifying the Minamata Convention on Mercury which is a global treaty to protect people and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury...The NGO in a statement noted that, government should “increase collaboration with research, academic institutions, civil society organisations, development partners and miners to improve existing mercury reduction and mercury-free technologies such as the glass retort, and Direct Smelting Methods to make them accessible, cheaper, easy to use and recover more gold.” It also urged government to formalize small-scale gold mining “by increasing miners’ access to viable lands and better financing, reducing mining licensing procedure.”