Accra, June 3, GNA- The Eighth West African International Mining and Power Exhibition (WAMPOC 2008) is underway in Accra on the theme: "Development Through Mining And Power- A Shared Responsibility." The exhibition being organised in collaboration with the Ministries of Energy, Lands, Forestry and Mines and the Ghana Chamber of Mines attracted representatives from mining countries in the West African including Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, with 76 exhibitors displaying various state of the art products to catch the attention of potential buyers during the three-day event.

Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who on Tuesday opened the exhibition called on countries in the Sub-Region to initiate the process of adding value to the minerals they produce in order to derive more benefits.

He said the dividend Ghana would yield in adding value to local mineral production would include the expansion of the mining sector within the national economy.

Vice President Mahama expressed dissatisfaction about the presence of illegal miners on legally acquired concessions, which, he said, adversely affected the mining industry. "I will therefore urge mining companies and non-governmental organisations to support the promotion of legal small-scale mining in order to create employment opportunities for Ghanaians in that sector. This will reduce the negative activities of illegal miners." Vice President Mahama noted that minerals production, especially gold has increased tremendously, making the mineral sector the highest foreign exchange earner in the country.

" Since 2001, there has been a steady rise in the price of gold from an average of 270 dollars per ounce to 520 dollars in December 2005, peaking to 630 per ounce as at May 31, 2006," he said. Ms Joyce Aryee, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, who chaired the function, observed that mining is not just a hole in the ground but about development.

She said mining was about people and what mining products do for the people, stressing that, although the industry is what people love to hate, the country could not do without it.