The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of implementing the planetGOLD Ghana Project, has organised a consultative workshop on the preparation of a social license for stakeholders in the Artisanal Small- scale Gold Mining (ASGM) value chain, in the Prestea Huni-valley municipality. The workshop was aimed at gathering insights and expertise from stakeholders to facilitate the development of a robust Social License Protocol (SLP) that aligns with the project's objectives and the needs of the ASGM sector in Ghana. The Municipal Chief Executive of the Prestea Huni Valley Municipal Assembly, Mr Isaac Dasmani, in his opening remarks commended the project team for the engagement. He disclosed that his Municipality was endowed with a lot of gold deposits but there were some challenges with the mining operations and urged small-scale miners to support the project on the new approaches, including mercury-free interventions to ensure responsible mining in the municipality. Mr. Dasmani appealed to the mine rs to put into practice everything they learn from the workshops to help protect their health and the environment, while encouraging mining companies, both large and small-scale to fulfil their corporate social responsibility to help develop the communities in which they operate. He urged all stakeholders in the mining value chain to work together to ensure responsible mining and development of communities. Mr Lovelace Sarpong, Project Coordinator, said the project aimed to minimize the risks posed by mercury use in the ASGM sector by improving sound chemical management and eliminating pollution hazards while improving financial inclusion and transition to the formal economy.  It also seeks to strengthen national and jurisdictional capacity to enhance Ghana's compliance with the Minamata Convention following national environmental and formalization policies, alongside global platforms on mercury reductions, responsible supply chains, and mineral resource governance. He said the project, funded by the Glob al Environment Facility (GEF) with the support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), had four main components, including optimizing formalization through Jurisdictional Approaches (JAs), accelerating financial inclusion and responsible supply chains, enhancing uptake of mercury-free technologies, and fostering knowledge sharing and local capacity building support. Mr. Isaac Owusu, Safeguard Officer on the Project, said mining played a major role in the development of the nation. About 13 out of the 16 regions in Ghana are endowed with mineral deposits. Although the small-scale mining value chain support millions of livelihoods in Ghana, environmental impacts arise during all stages of the mining processes.  He said the impacts of mining activities transcended the boundaries of the mine hence mining companies must ensure that appropriate mitigation measures were put in place to address the negative impact associated with thei r operations.  He said in mining, Social License was an informal social contract that gave mining project sufficient social approval for its long-term sustainability. 'While this concept is widely accepted by the large mining industry as a tool for success, and has prompted companies to look beyond their self-interest, small-scale miners generally lack the financial and human resources to develop such informal contracts, respond to grievances, and take corrective action to reduce conflict.' Participants at the workshop agreed that the issues discussed be incorporated into the development of protocols for the social license, while recommending that further engagements be organized in the other project districts for stakeholders. Source: Ghana News Agency