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Assessing the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on the Livelihoods of Communities in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana

Gold mining has played an important role in Ghana’s economy, however the negative environmental and socio-economic effects on the host communities associated with gold mining have overshadowed these economic gains. It is within this context that this paper assessed in an integrated manner the enviro...

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Autores principales: Obiri, Samuel, Mattah, Precious A. D., Mattah, Memuna M., Armah, Frederick A., Osae, Shiloh, Adu-kumi, Sam, Yeboah, Philip O.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4772180/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26821039
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13020160
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author Obiri, Samuel
Mattah, Precious A. D.
Mattah, Memuna M.
Armah, Frederick A.
Osae, Shiloh
Adu-kumi, Sam
Yeboah, Philip O.
author_facet Obiri, Samuel
Mattah, Precious A. D.
Mattah, Memuna M.
Armah, Frederick A.
Osae, Shiloh
Adu-kumi, Sam
Yeboah, Philip O.
author_sort Obiri, Samuel
collection PubMed
description Gold mining has played an important role in Ghana’s economy, however the negative environmental and socio-economic effects on the host communities associated with gold mining have overshadowed these economic gains. It is within this context that this paper assessed in an integrated manner the environmental and socio-economic impacts of artisanal gold mining in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality from a natural and social science perspective. The natural science group collected 200 random samples on bi-weekly basis between January to October 2013 from water bodies in the study area for analysis in line with methods outlined by the American Water Works Association, while the social science team interviewed 250 residents randomly selected for interviews on socio-economic issues associated with mining. Data from the socio-economic survey was analyzed using logistic regression with SPSS version 17. The results of the natural science investigation revealed that the levels of heavy metals in water samples from the study area in most cases exceeded GS 175-1/WHO permissible guideline values, which are in tandem with the results of inhabitants’ perceptions of water quality survey (as 83% of the respondents are of the view that water bodies in the study area are polluted). This calls for cost-benefits analysis of mining before new mining leases are granted by the relevant authorities.
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spelling pubmed-47721802016-03-08 Assessing the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on the Livelihoods of Communities in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana Obiri, Samuel Mattah, Precious A. D. Mattah, Memuna M. Armah, Frederick A. Osae, Shiloh Adu-kumi, Sam Yeboah, Philip O. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Gold mining has played an important role in Ghana’s economy, however the negative environmental and socio-economic effects on the host communities associated with gold mining have overshadowed these economic gains. It is within this context that this paper assessed in an integrated manner the environmental and socio-economic impacts of artisanal gold mining in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality from a natural and social science perspective. The natural science group collected 200 random samples on bi-weekly basis between January to October 2013 from water bodies in the study area for analysis in line with methods outlined by the American Water Works Association, while the social science team interviewed 250 residents randomly selected for interviews on socio-economic issues associated with mining. Data from the socio-economic survey was analyzed using logistic regression with SPSS version 17. The results of the natural science investigation revealed that the levels of heavy metals in water samples from the study area in most cases exceeded GS 175-1/WHO permissible guideline values, which are in tandem with the results of inhabitants’ perceptions of water quality survey (as 83% of the respondents are of the view that water bodies in the study area are polluted). This calls for cost-benefits analysis of mining before new mining leases are granted by the relevant authorities. MDPI 2016-01-26 2016-02 /pmc/articles/PMC4772180/ /pubmed/26821039 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13020160 Text en © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Obiri, Samuel
Mattah, Precious A. D.
Mattah, Memuna M.
Armah, Frederick A.
Osae, Shiloh
Adu-kumi, Sam
Yeboah, Philip O.
Assessing the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on the Livelihoods of Communities in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana
title Assessing the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on the Livelihoods of Communities in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana
title_full Assessing the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on the Livelihoods of Communities in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana
title_fullStr Assessing the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on the Livelihoods of Communities in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on the Livelihoods of Communities in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana
title_short Assessing the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on the Livelihoods of Communities in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana
title_sort assessing the environmental and socio-economic impacts of artisanal gold mining on the livelihoods of communities in the tarkwa nsuaem municipality in ghana
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4772180/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26821039
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13020160
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