Akufo-Addo commissions Gold Katcha for small scale mining

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, 6th June 2022, commissioned one 100 mercury-free gold processing equipment, commonly referred to as Gold Katcha, at a ceremony held at the Independence Square, in Accra.

Gold Katcha is an equipment that extracts gold from the ore without the use of mercury, which has been the practice for several decades.

This equipment has the capacity to recover over ninety percent (90%) of gold from the ore, and, therefore, give small scale miners much more gold than they would have obtained from the traditional method of using mercury.

Nana Akufo-Addo said it is his intention to procure some 300 more of these equipment, under the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme, for use in the various communities where the Programme is being implemented.

He said his government’s goal is to eliminate gradually, but as soon as possible, the use of mercury in small-scale mining, and help realise the objectives of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.