The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Friday that preliminary investigations show that there was not much impact on natural resources, during the cyanide spillage at Tarkwa last Sunday and that investigations still continues.
Mr Daniel S. Amlalo, Director/Operations of EPA, said in an interview with the GNA in Accra that initial investigations by the EPA Field Officers who were dispatched to the site soon after the spillage occurred, reported that there was not much impact on natural resources.
“Initial emergency measures where taken by the Gold Field Ghana Limited (GFGL) at Tarkwa on Sunday immediately the spillage occurred containing it within their environment,” he said.
Mr Amlalo, however, emphasised that test samples were yet to be analysed for the final report to be made. The report would be made public immediately it is ready, he said.
The EPA on Monday reported a cyanide spillage at Gold Fields Limited in the Western Region and said a team had been dispatched to analyse the situation and its impact on natural resources.
Gold Fields Ghana Limited said on Tuesday that the spillage was contained at the mine site and could not enter any external water body.
Mr Johan Botha, General Manager of GFGL, said the cyanide spilled from one of the three newly constructed pipelines to carry cyanide in the recovery of gold, describing it as a mistake.
He said there is a 1.5 kilometre stretch of land where silt traps had been constructed to control the rainwater flow before it moves out of the mine or into the external environment.
There are also excess solution ponds into which the detoxified solution is pumped to prevent its flow into the external environment, Mr Botha said
Source: GhanaWeb
