Examining the social and environmental impact of tailings Dam Projects in Ghana: a case study of Perseus Mining TSF Project
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Date
2021-06-23
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Abstract
There is demonstrated information to underscore the way mining activities improves
the socio-economic wellbeing of a country in areas such as employment, business,
direct commitment to the Ghana‘s gross domestic product (GDP), external income
earnings and support for other industries. Along with mining operations and activities
is an associated structure called the Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) which serves as an
impounding facility for waste disposal in the mining industry. The construction of a
TSF has varied impacts ranging from displacement of inhabitants, destruction of
farmlands, resettlements among others. Many of these facilities have been constructed
without a carefully conceived contemplations about their impact; living the host
community displaced and disadvantaged. Many mining firms tend to overlook the
social and environmental risk presented by Tailings Storage Facilities fundamentally
on the grounds that there is no immediate income from the expense made in planning,
designing, construction and operation of the such facilities. Hence the study was
conducted to examine the impact of the Perseus Mining Ghana Ltd (PMGL) TSF
project on the host community and recommend improvements to the identified social
and environmental impacts. Seventy respondents in total were administered with
questionnaires to collate relevant information. The sets of data obtained was analysed by
utilising the statistical software (SPSS) – Statistical Package for Social Sciences, excel
sheets programmed with Relative Index formula (RII) and descriptive statistics was
adopted in analysing the demographic information.
The overall summary of the respondents surveyed indicated that the construction of the
TSF poses a positive impact on the economy and development of host communities,
thereby making the community a much better place. However, the respondents also
indicated the TSF poses some negative impacts such as poor air quality and degradation
of lands and forest. Notwithstanding the respondents pointed out some improvements to
the existing positive impacts identified such as the resettlement of project affected
persons (PAPs) and compensation to affected communities.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Construction and Technology Management,
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award degree of Master of Science in Project Management,
Keywords
An Assessment, Social and Environmental Influence, Tailings Dam Projects, Perseus Mining TSF Project, Ghana