Sunyani, July 19, GNA - Ms Joyce Rosalyn Aryee, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Chamber of Mines has observed that only 13 per cent of Ghana's total land mass for mining is being utilised by large-scale mining companies.

She said contrary to the growing concern among Ghanaians over the negative impact of mining on the country's environment, only 31,237 square kilometres of land out of the total land area of 240,000 square kilometres had been released for mining activities.

Ms Aryee made the observation when briefing the media on functions and activities of the Chamber in Sunyani.

She said; "only 13 per cent of land area devoted to mining activities is under actual large scale mining operations in the country."

Ms Aryee said the Chamber was committed for the best practices in its collaborative principles and would not compromise the core values of honesty, transparency, good governance, good corporate citizenship and total commitment when providing leadership to solve national issues relating to mining.

Ms Aryee stressed the need for the mining industry and media to collaborate to promote mining as a catalyst for local, regional and national development.

"The media has a lot to offer in bringing to the notice of people in Ghana and mining communities in particular, the dynamics of corporate social responsibility, compensation, community responsibility and the industry's contribution towards the national economy," she added. Ms Aryee announced that the Chamber was a signatory to United Nations Global Compact, which sets out core values in human rights, labour standards, environment and anti-corruption.

She said members of the Chamber in production had in addition, submitted themselves to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and regularly publish their commitments to Government, host communities and the public.

Ms Aryee said the Chamber, as part of its sustainable development agenda was advocating for Government to increase the level of royalties paid to host communities from the current nine per cent to 30 per cent while ensuring visible manifestation of royalty receipts in mining communities.

On payment of royalties at the national front, she said contrary to perceptions, mining companies had contributed immensely to the national revenue.

Ms Aryee announced that in 2005 431.4 million dollars representing 48 per cent of total mineral revenue was paid to Government.

She said sustainable development was the desired goal and the industry through the Chamber would work with Government and stakeholders to implement principles of cooperative decision-making and shared responsibility for the management of social and environmental impact of mining. 19 July 07