Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama
The Board Chairman of the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC), Farouk Aliu Mahama, has said that iron ore mining will start at the end of next year in the country.
According to the Board Chairman, steel companies have been contracted to ascertain the steel component of the ore in the country, as government moves to enhance private sector participation. Speaking to a radio station recently, he said, “They have started and as we speak they are on the verge of commencing and some of them are going to complete in the next six months and after that they will give us the report.”
Continuing, he said, “Government alone cannot invest in this. The cost of doing MRA is very expensive, and we have been able to allocate blocks to some companies. And it takes a lot of investments. So, through the direction of the government, we have decided to do private sector participation.”
The chairman said these activities would help make substantial progress to meet the government projected timeline.
“It is a process but the first achievement we have done is to get the big steel companies who have the capacity and who have understood that they are coming to do an investment of their own at their own risk at the blocks. So at least we will have some activities based on the timelines that the President wants to see,” he disclosed, adding that the exploitation of ore will boost the manufacturing of steel products in Ghana.