Bogoso (W/R), June 7, GNA - Nana Kofi Gyimah, Tufuhene of Dumasi near Bogoso, has appealed to galamsey operators (illegal miners) to stop working in the tailings dam at Bogoso Gold Limited (BGL) mine site. He said such activities posed danger to the environment and the Dumasi community, which is the nearest community to the mine. Nana Gyimah said apart from contracting diseases, their crude method of extracting gold also affected the water bodies in the area. Nana Gyimah said this during a mine tour at Bogoso on Monday. The illegal miners have adopted a new way of prospecting for gold. Instead of digging for the ore, they have resorted to winning waste in the tailings dam, which was constructed to contain waste materials from the mineral processing plant.

Mr Francis Adarkwa Yiadom, Senior Environment Monitoring Officer of the BGL said the tailings dam contained a level of toxic material, which could cause skin diseases.

He said the illegal miners' desperate need for water to process gold, had made them to punch a hole in a pipeline. 7 June 05