Open-pit cyanide processing gold mine will physically and economically displace nearly 10,000 people in its first phase alone
| Location |
Ghana
|
| Total Cost |
US$470.00 million
|
| Status |
Active
|
In January 2006, the World Bank’s private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), approved loans of $125 million to the international gold producer Newmont Mining Corporation for the development of a gold mine in the Ahafo area of Ghana. The open-pit, cyanide processing Ahafo gold mine will physically and economically displace nearly 10,000 people in its first phase alone, and poses significant environmental and social risks to the local communities. The IFC has stated that the project will serve as a model for good resettlement practices and will provide benefits to local communities. However, Newmont’s Ahafo mine has raised concerns among local communities and NGOs who criticize the sponsors’ failure to provide a long-term solution to land and livelihood loss for the small-scale farmers affected by the project. Furthermore, the absence of an adequate, independent monitoring mechanism to track the project’s social and environmental impacts, and the inadequacy of environmental risk prevention and mitigation measures, particularly related to potential water contamination from cyanide or acid generation have contribute to increasing concern about the entire project.
BIC has played a supporting role to Ghanaian NGOs working on the ground. BIC staff visited the project site in May 2006 and BIC continues to monitor project developments. Together with other local and international civil society organizations, BIC seeks to promote the highest social and environmental standards, protect and promote the rights of local communities, and hold the IFC accountable to its poverty reduction mandate.