AngloGold Ashanti moves to protect Obuasi mine

23 September 2008Posted to the web 23 September 2008

Anglo Gold Ashanti has mounted a security operation with a combined team of Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service which began at Obuasi in the Ashanti Region on Thursday to combat illegal miners.
The move by the company (Anglo Gold Ashanti) is to protect its Obuasi mine from the activities of illegal miners, popularly known as galamsay operators who have consistently been torpedoing the smooth operations of the company.
The activities of illegal miners in the Obuasi concession has rendered the company to incur loss running into millions of dollars.
"The Obuasi Mine has experienced ongoing security incidents relating to the activities of groups and individuals engaged in illegal mining in the area, including the invasion of our underground facilities, setting alight of cables, drilling and blasting without recourse to safety and environmental impacts, and the use of stolen explosives. These miners have destroyed national installations and company owned underground infrastructure, and threatened and brutalised AngloGold Ashanti personnel who attempt to interfere in their activities", noted John Owusu, Corporate Affairs Manager of AngloGold Ashanti in a statement issued and released in Accra.
According to Mr. Owusu, the activities of the illegal miners was posing dangers to the company's operations and its personnel, a situation he said can no more be tolerated.
"By way of a long-term response, AngloGold Ashanti intends to upgrade its security capacity, in order to be able to secure its property adequately in the future. Where required we will take appropriate action, in accordance with international human rights standards, to remove illegal miners from our premises and, if circumstances require it, hand them over to the police for action to be taken against them in terms of the law", he added.