The Ghana Landscape Restoration and Small-Scale Mining Project (GLRSSMP) continues to demonstrate its unwavering commitment to promoting sustainable natural resource management practices across targeted savannah and cocoa forest landscapes in Ghana. As part of its Institutional Strengthening for an effective Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) formalization, the GLRSSMP has taken a significant step towards enhancing the capabilities of Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) to carry out improved airborne geophysical surveys in the country.
The GGSA has been empowered with a state-of-the-art drone fitted magnetometer device to enhance its geophysical data acquisition and interpretation capacity. The cutting-edge technology was delivered in May 2023, marking a significant milestone in the GGSA’s efforts to improve its efficiency in the natural resource management especially playing a pivotal role in the ASM formalization process to delineate mineable areas to aid ASM operations.
Consequently, in June 2023, staffs from GGSA and Minerals Commission (MinCom) were taken through intensive training sessions on the drone-fitted magnetometer’s use, to setup the stage for the first phase of an airborne geophysical surveys of the Dunkwa Block with the magnetometer. Thus, GGSA will leverage the drone technology to conduct field surveys and acquire geophysical datasets in the Dunkwa Blockout area and other identified blocks in the future.
The innovative use of this drone technology is a testament to the GLRSSMP’s unwavering commitment to sustainably manage mineral resources in Ghana. The data generated by the drone-fitted magnetometer will be used to develop mineral target maps that will form the baseline for the conduct of field geological investigations on the Project and beyond. The GLRSSMP recognizes that empowering Ghanaian institutions with advanced technology tools such as this, is fundamental to achieving sustainable natural resource management and ASM best practices in the country. By promoting the use of cutting-edge technology, the GLRSSMP will continue to enhance the capacity of institutions involved in the extractive industry, enabling them to achieve their mandates to ultimately contribute to Ghana’s socio-economic growth.
The GLRSSMP is proud to have empowered the GGSA with advanced drone technology for improved airborne geophysical surveys to help in mineral targeting and this will help minimize the haphazard mining by ASM miners. By leveraging its expertise in project development and execution, the GLRSSMP is promoting natural resource management, driving socio-economic growth and ultimately, contributing to the development of a sustainable ASM best practices in Ghana.