Tarkwa, July 29, GNA - Professor Daniel Mireku-Gyimah, Vice Chancellor

of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) has noted that Ghana's

major challenge is how to exploit its several unexplored natural mineral

deposits.

He said minerals such as iron, asbestos, limestone, marble, barite, mica

and talc, silica, garnet, feldspar, sandstone, beryl, lithium, monazite, copper

and kaolin, lie unexplored in several parts of Ghana.

Prof. Mireku-Gyimah said these in an interview with the Ghana News

Agency (GNA) at Tarkwa on Wednesday.

He said the country's major challenge is how to exploit these mineral

resources responsibly using appropriate tools and procedures to safeguard

their quality and also protect the environment at the same time.

"We need to prevent environmental damage, when exploiting the

resources for national development and we must do it in an environmentally

friendly manner" Prof. Mireku-Gyimah stressed.

He said the socio-economic benefits of mining must be maximized and

lesser known natural resources must be harnessed for the growth and

development of the society.

Prof. Mireku-Gyimah said the nation could tap these resources effectively

if it resourced UMaT, the only Mines, Science and Technology University in

Africa, to carry out its mandate of producing world-class graduates, who will

assist the nation to exploit and make these other untapped resources

readily available and to contribute significantly to the development of the

nation.

He said the university has instituted a biennial UMaT International

Mining and Mineral Conference which would begin from August 4 to 7 this

year.

Prof. Mireku-Gyimah said 100 professionals and people from academic

institutions worldwide have been invited to share their experiences and

views in innovations in mining and mineral technology to help address the

challenges of the country.

He said presently, UMaT has a student population of 1,453 and 73

academic staffs making the ratio of academic staff to students is 20 to one.

264 within both the medium and long term, adding that, when this figure improves the student population will also increase to 5,000.

He said though the University was established in 1952 as the Tarkwa

Technical Institute, its transformation into a full university and the

increasing demand for admission requires that a new campus that can host

over 5,000 students, lecturers, professors among others to be built.

He said though the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council had donated a total

of 26 square kilometre of land for the development of a new campus, the

lack of financial resources was a major challenge now.