Members of the Artisan’s Small Scale Miners’ Association (ASM) in Obuasi are set to vacate the concessions of AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi mine latest by 17th May, 2016 after smooth deliberations between the two parties.
This was contained in a Press Statement by Obuasi Must Live Coalition (OMLC) earlier yesterday.
The Obuasi Must Live Coalition (OMLC) for the past one month with their internationally accepted hash tag #Obuasimustnotdie have been calling on government and other concerned stakeholders to do all what they can to save the dying Obuasi mine and also help Small Scale Miners acquire separate concessions.
“Signals we are picking indicate that this breakthrough in negotiations has led to an agreement with the small scale miners to move out of some key areas within the concession of AngloGold Ashanti by Tuesday May 17th 2016. This move by the small scale miners will lead to a tranquil environment for both the multinational mining company and small scale miners to co-exist for the ultimate benefit of Obuasi”, the statement read.
The campaign, #Obuasimustnotdie has also led to the Minerals Commission setting up an office in the Obuasi Municipality for the first time. This the Coalition said will enhance monitoring and supervision on both small scale miners activities and AngloGold Ashanti to ease crisis being witnessed all the time.
“The crisis has also led the opening of a Minerals Commission office in Obuasi. We hope that this office will facilitate the regularization of small scale mining in the Municipality, particularly on the ceded concession by AngloGold Ashanti”, the statement added.
By: Emmanuel Agyemfra Boateng