...Introduction Mining is one of the biggest issues all over the world. It is also one of the great contributing factors in economic progress, health related and environmental issues. Mining is the extraction of valuable materials and non-renewable resources such as petroleum, natural gases, or even water from the earth, from an ore body, lode, vein, seam or reef, which forms mineralized package economic interest of miner. It is required to obtain any material that cannot be grown through agricultural process or created artificially in the laboratory. Miners are exposed to various potential toxic or harmful materials or agents, including, but not limited to, fuels, reagents, solvents, detergents, chemicals, coal dust, silica dust, diesel particulate matter (DPM), asbestos, noise, welding fumes, poisonous plants, and metal dust. This causes lung disorders, hearing loss or impairment, physical disorders and dermatitis/skin disorders. Environment is also affected by mining. Erosion, formation of sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, and contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water by chemicals are one of them. In some cases, additional forest logging is done in the vicinity of mines to increase the availability room for storage of the created debris and soil. In wilderness mining may cause destruction and disturbance of ecosystems and habitats and in areas of farming it may destroy productive grazing and croplands. In urbanized environments mining may produce noise...
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...CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study The mining industry in Ghana, is an important sector for the socio economies of countries that have substantial gold deposits. To achieve rapid economic development, many countries resort to various activities to exploit natural resources. One of such activities is mining. Consequently, mining is an important economic activity which has the potential of contributing to the development of areas endowed with the resource. In North America, raw mineral production in 1998 was valued at approximately US$ 70 billion. The industry employs approximately 1 million people (Mbendi Profile, 2005). In Peru, the mining sector accounts for 50% of the country’s annual export earnings. During 1993, the mining industry’s contribution to the Peruvian economy was represented by $240m paid in taxes; $400m spent on local purchases; $280m in imported goods and accounted for over 11% of GDP (Acheampong, 2003). In South Africa, where gold is the largest mineral foreign income earner, gold mining alone contributes 27.4% in mineral revenues. The gold industry is also responsible for 56% of South Africa’s mine labour force (Mbendi, 2005). In Ghana, the sector plays a vital role in the development of the economy. In 2000, minerals accounted for 38.96% of total export earnings, followed by cocoa (22.51%) and timber (9.03%) (ISSER, 2001). The mining sector now contributes 41% to the country’s foreign exchange and is the leading foreign exchange earner. Of...
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...COUNTRIES: LESSONS FROM GHANA Mr. Isaac Kwasi Egyir Human Ecology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, BELGIUM Email: iegyir@vub.ac.be CONTENT PAGE ACRONYMS 3 ABSTRACT 4 1. Introduction 5 1.1 The Definition and Concept of Communication 5 1.1.1 Concept of Environmental Communication 6 1.2 The Definition and Concept of Leadership 8 1.2.1 Concept of Environmental Leadership 9 1.3 Link between Environmental Communication and Leadeship 10 2. Statement of Research the Problem 10 2.1 Objectives of the Paper 11 2.2 Guiding Hypotheses 11 3. Conceptual Framework of the Paper 11 4. Materials and Methods 13 4.1 The Study Location 13 4.2 Data Collection Analysis 13 5. Results and Discussion 15 5.1 The State of Ghana's Environment 16 5.1.1 Perception of Environmental Problems in Ghana 16 5.2 Environmental Policy and Implementing Instituitions in Ghana 17 5.2.1 Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) 18 5.2.2 National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) 18 5.2.3 Ghana Environmental REsources Management systems (GERMS) 19 5.2.4 Forest and Wildlife Policy 20 5.2.5 Environment Sanitation Policy (ESP) 20 5.2.6 Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) 20 5.3 Environmental Implementing Instituitions in Ghana 21 5.3.1 Roles of Key Stakeholders 22 5.3.1.1 The Role of Government of Ghana 22 5.3.1.2 Awareness...
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...ARTICLE IN PRESS Resources Policy 34 (2009) 24–31 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Resources Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/resourpol Recognizing and nurturing artisanal mining as a viable livelihood Petra Tschakert à Department of Geography and Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Development in Africa (AESEDA), Pennsylvania State University, 315 Walker Building, University Park, PA 16802-5011, USA a r t i c l e in f o Article history: Received 7 February 2008 Received in revised form 3 May 2008 Accepted 4 May 2008 JEL classification: L72 Q32 Keywords: Artisanal and small-scale mining Recognition Flourishing Alternative livelihoods Ghana a b s t r a c t Much of the discourse and literature on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in sub-Saharan Africa has inherently prescriptive recommendations on how the sector should develop. Devaluation, misrecognition, and criminalization of artisanal, largely illegal miners hamper their participation not only in environmental and political decision-making but also in negotiating potential alternative livelihoods. This article addresses the following three questions: (a) what are the pull and push factors in Ghana’s artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector?; (b) what concrete livelihood options exist for unregistered miners when regularization is impeded and undermined?; and (c) in the absence of promising alternative livelihoods, how can the ASM sector be re-imagined to allow...
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...GLOBALIZATION, EMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY IN GHANA Ernest Aryeetey1 1. INTRODUCTION One of the most significant influences on the performance of the economy of Ghana in the last two decades has been derived from the greater interaction between it and other economies. Thus, following economic reforms that focused considerably on opening the economy to greater and freer external trade, globalization has been a major aspect of the economy and society. But this influence has been observed not only in the area of external trade; it is seen also in terms of capital flows, aid, technology transfer, international migration, etc. All of these have seen significant expansion in the period of reforms, even if this has been on a scale far smaller than in South East Asia and the other faster growing developing economies. Globalization has definitely created opportunities for various parts of the economy to gain access to larger pools of resources as well as markets. While this may generally be perceived to have impacted positively on the beneficiaries, there are also indications that globalization has introduced new risks to environments that were hitherto closed to those risks. The increased risk may, in some cases, have accentuated poverty and worsened income distribution in parts of the country. While poverty has always been generally closely associated with the condition of African states, its link with globalization is a more recent development, and is much less understood...
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...CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1Background to the study Mining is the extraction of minerals and precious metals from the earth. These minerals and metals consist of manganese, tantalum, copper, tin, silver, diamonds and gold. Mining may be considered in two forms: large scale mining and small scale mining. Large scale mining generally employs large number of people and produces huge tonnes of gold. Examples of companies who engage in these are the Anglo-Gold Ashanti of Ghana, Newmont Ghana, Goldfields Ghana and Minas Serra Palade Mines in Brazil which employed about over thousands workers and yielded thousands tonnes of gold (Amankwah and Anim-Sackey, 2003). Small scale mining is a form of mining that is done at small levels and mostly employs relatively a low number of people (Appiah, 1998). It is generally engaged in by local people within the area where these activities occur, and comes along with it the influx of people from other areas. Small Scale Mining companies use a considerable number of the labour force in the country. While there is no accurate SSM employment number for Ghana (Appiah, 1998), it is estimated that some 500,000 people are openly employed in the sector while additional 500,000 may indirectly be benefiting from the doings. About half of those directly engaged in the S.S.M are said to be illegal operators (Amankwah & Anim-Sackey, 2003) commonly known as “galamsey operators”. The actions of small-scale miners also generate economic linkages with other...
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...Mining Industry Case Analysis | Business Ethics in a Global Context | Presented To: Dr. Jang Singh | | | | Executive Summary This report will examine the Mining Industry via ethical perspectives. This report includes a brief overview of the industry followed by an evaluation of the Mining industry’s value chain; including an environmental analysis of a mining company, as well as an evaluation of the industry’s corporate social responsibility, corporate social responsiveness and finally the corporate social performance. The Mining Industry is one of the World’s largest industries. The ‘idea’ of mining dates back to the beginning stage of civilization. Some examples of early mining can be found in Egypt, Europe and the Philippines. As of now, top mining countries are South Africa, Russia, Australia, Ukraine and Guinea. This industry faces constant technology advancement, consequently it is an expensive investment, with large profit. The Mining Industry can be controversial when looked through an ethical lens. This Industry is analysed through four perspectives. * The utilitarianism perspective, an act is morally right if the outcome benefits the greatest amount of people; * The rights perspective, basically, important entitlements that should be respected and protected in every action; * The justice perspective, fair treatment of individuals in a situation where everyone is involved and gets what they deserve to; * The virtue perspective, morally...
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...REPUBLIC OF GHANA THE BUDGET STATEMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICY of the GOVERNMENT OF GHANA for the 2015 FINANCIAL YEAR presented to PARLIAMENT on WEDNESDAY, 19TH NOVEMBER 2014 by SETH E. TERKPER Minister for Finance on the Authority of HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA Theme: “Transformational Agenda: Securing the Bright Medium Term Prospects of the Economy ’’ THE 2015 BUDGET STATEMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICY ~ ii ~ Theme: “Transformational Agenda: Securing the Bright Medium Term Prospects of the Economy ’’ For copies of the Statement, please contact the Public Relations Office of the Ministry: Ministry of Finance Public Relations Office New Building, Ground Floor, Room 001/003 P. O. Box MB 40 Accra – Ghana The 2015 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana is also available on the internet at: www.mofep.gov.gh ~ iii ~ Theme: “Transformational Agenda: Securing the Bright Medium Term Prospects of the Economy ’’ ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ABFA ACLP ADR AFCON AfDB AIDS AML AMSECs APR ATMA AVIC BACs BDS BIEPC BoG BOP bopd bps BR BRICS BSPs BVDs Annual Budget Funding Amount Ascertainment and Codification of Customary Law Project Alternative Dispute Resolution African Cup of Nations African Development Bank Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Anti-Money laundering Agricultural Mechanization Services Enterprise Centres Annual Progress Report Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area Accra Visitor Information Centre Business Advisory Centres...
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...Can You Fight Poverty With a Five-Star Hotel? (Photo courtesy of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts) by Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, Special to ProPublica, Jan. 2, 2013, 12 a.m. * 0 Comments * Republish * Email * Print Connect with Facebook to share articles you read on ProPublica. Learn more » * * * * 1 inShare This story was co-published with Foreign Policy. Accra is a city of choking red dust where almost no rain falls for three months at a time and clothes hung out on a line dry in 15 minutes. So the new five-star Mövenpick hotel affords a haven of sorts in Ghana’s crowded capital, with manicured lawns, amply watered vegetation, and uniformed waiters gliding poolside on roller skates to offer icy drinks to guests. A high concrete wall rings the grounds, keeping out the city’s overflowing poor who hawk goods in the street by day and the homeless who lie on the sidewalks by night. The Mövenpick, which opened in 2011, fits the model of a modern international luxury hotel, with 260 rooms, seven floors, and 13,500 square feet of retail space displaying $2,000 Italian handbags and other wares. But it is exceptional in at least one respect: It was financed by a combination of two very different entities: a multibillion-dollar investment company largely controlled by a Saudi prince, and the poverty-fighting World Bank. The investment company, Kingdom Holding Company, has a market value of $12 billion, and Forbes ranks its principal owner, Prince...
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...PURE GOLD TO BE THE LEADING MINING COMPANY To create value for our shareholders, our employees and our business and social partners through safely and responsibly exploring, mining and marketing our products. Our primary focus is gold and we will pursue value creating opportunities in other minerals where we can leverage our existing assets, skills and experience to enhance the delivery of value. Safety is our first value. We place people first and correspondingly put the highest priority on safe and healthy practices and systems of work. We are responsible for seeking out new and innovative ways to ensure that our workplaces are free of occupational injury and illness. We live each day for each other and use our collective commitment, talents, resources and systems to deliver on our most important commitment ... to care. We are accountable for our actions and undertake to deliver on our commitments. We are focused on delivering results and we do what we say we will do. We accept responsibility and hold ourselves accountable for our work, our behaviour, our ethics and our actions. We aim to deliver high performance outcomes and undertake to deliver on our commitments to our colleagues, business and social partners, and our investors. We treat each other with dignity and respect. We believe that individuals who are treated with respect and who are entrusted to take responsibility respond by giving their best. We seek to preserve people's dignity, their sense...
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...www.pwc.co.uk The direct economic impact of gold October 2013 www.pwc.co.uk The work carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ("PwC") in relation to this report has been carried out only for the World Gold Council and solely for the purpose and on the terms agreed between PwC and the World Gold Council. The report does not constitute professional advice. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this report and, to the extent permitted by law, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, its members, employees and agents do not accept or assume any liability, responsibility or duty of care for any consequences to anyone acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on the information contained in this report or for any decision based on it. © 2013 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. All rights reserved. In this document, "PwC" refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (a limited liability partnership in the United Kingdom), which is a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each member firm of which is a separate legal entity. The direct economic impact of gold Contents Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................................1 Executive summary ...........................................................................................................................................
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...MINING I INTRODUCTION Brief Historical Background Digging deep into history, mining in the Philippines is one of the oldest industries in the country. Gold mining in Luzon started even in the 3rd century as reported by the Chinese merchants. Before the advent of the Spanish rule, metals—primarily gold—played an important role in shaping traditions and rituals, in indigenizing certain features of Filipino beliefs, and in developing patterns of wealth, power and authority during the period. The spirit of Spanish expansionism was at its crest when it reached the Philippines in the second half of the sixteenth century. The archipelago became the base of further efforts to conquer and evangelize new areas and design new trade routes in search primarily of spices but also of gold and other precious merchandise. The Spaniards failed to develop mining in the country, but left behind one of the basic building blocks of the present-day mining laws–the Regalian Doctrine. In essence, the Regalian Doctrine stipulates that all minerals and substances underneath all lands, public or private belong to the state. In effect, the law rests on the principle of eminent domain which reserves to the state the right to develop the mines on its own initiative or through private concessions. With the Americans, mining industries accelerated as the country’s economy strengthened its links to the needs of the industrialized countries like the US. The growth of the mining industry in the Philippines...
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...PROJECT TOPIC THE IMPACT OF GHANA RURAL BANK COMPUTERIASATION AND INTERCONNECTIVITY PROJECT ON THE PROFITABILITY OF RURAL BANKS A CASE OF SOUTH AKIM RURAL BANK LIMITED INTRODUCTION Background Statement It can be said universally that the rate of change and expansion that organisations are striving to achieve has been ambitious. The rural banking sector is no exception. Profitability of banks has improved tremendously. Current trends show that banking is more profitable through the use of technology. The rural banking concept was introduced to bridge the rural urban gap of financial transaction (Addo 1998). Since their inception the rural banks have been at the fore front of developing proper innovative financial product and modifying their operations to suit the specific needs of the rural farmer, the underserved micro enterprise and other low income operatives of the rural economy (Obeng 2009, Owusu Ansah1999) The objective of rural banks include the following, to provide basic financial services to the rural folks .To play a financial intermediary role by mobilizing financial resources from within their area of operation and channelling such funds to support viable ventures and thus invariably improve the socio-economic well-being of the people in the communities they serve, to inculcate banking culture and attitude into the rural folks in order to stem the tide of high volume of liquidity circulating outside the Ghanaian...
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...! ! Group Project: Ethics of the Mining Industry Group 4 Business Ethics 04-71-300-02 Professor Singh Date submitted: March 19th, 2014 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !1 Executive Summary This report assesses the global mining industry from a business perspective. Firstly, it begins with the history of mining across the globe and the structure of the mining industry. It then analyzes the impacts of the mining industry globally. Lastly, it addresses the issues surrounding our land—the Canadian mining industry. The research shows that the history of mining goes as far as the Neolithic era. The mining value chain presented demonstrates the formation of a mining company to the extraction of the natural resources. Further investigation shows that the mining structure is an oligopoly. Methods of analysis include an environmental analysis using PEST and a stakeholder map, which focus on the performance of a world-renowned mining company TransAlta. The finding is that management’s role is to have efficiency and productivity while maintaining ethical practices. Ethical theories are then used to look at the social, environmental and economical impacts of the Canadian industry. It is concluded that each ethical theory presents a favorable solution to each impact. Social corporate responsibility is evaluated in the last ten years in Canada and around the globe. It is found that the industry has become one of the most safety-conscious industries within Canada. The companies still...
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...1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 OVERVIEW OF INDUSTRY 2 2.0 COMPANY PROFILE 14 2.1 WHAT IS IMPRESSIVE ABOUT BBGL 15 3. ACCOUNTING POLICIES 17 4.0 FINANCIAL ANALYSIS 20 4.1 RATIO ANALYSIS 20 4.2 COMMON SIZE ANALYSIS 24 4.3 TREND ANALYSIS 25 5.0 EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION 27 6.0 WORKINGS 28 7.0 REFERENCES 34 1.0 INTRODUCTION With encouragements from the Ghana Stock Exchange for companies to be listed, it is very expedient that companies who show interest in being listed provide a profitable and an efficient view of the company to prospective investors. This is achieved in its financial statements. The decision to invest or not to invest in a company depends on the effectiveness and efficiency of the firm under consideration. Using various financial statement analysis tools, the potential investor may be able to make a decision to invest. The decision to invest does not only affect the investor but the firm as a whole. The firm will be able to raise enough capital to finance its operations. For firms whose capital requirements do not meet the requirement set by the bank of Ghana in February 2008 with deadline being December 2012, this is an avenue where such firms can fulfil this new requirement. With the current developments in the banking industry, banks of which Barclays bank is of no exception, should work at not only being profitable but also given investors value for their money. 1.2 OVERVIEW OF INDUSTRY In anticipation of the expected economic growth mainly...
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