More than 1.7 billion tonnes of iron ore has been discovered in an ongoing exploration exercise at Sheini in the Yendi municipality of the Northern Region.
The Majority Leader in Parliament and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who made this known in Accra yesterday, said the volume of the mineral deposit was estimated to hit three billion by the end of the exercise.
“Growing up, we all knew about the Oppong Manso iron mine in the Western Region, which is about 360 million tonnes, and also some 60-million tonne deposits in the Upper West Region, but the iron ore that has been discovered at Sheini is the biggest in the country,” he said at an event held to unveil a visualised natural resources map of Ghana.
“The volumes of deposit that have been discovered are based on the area that has already been assessed, but the rock formation in the area of the discovery extends to Togo, so I believe that when we are done with the reassessment, we will be having huge volumes of the mineral,” he said.
Iron and steel industry
According to Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the discovery of the iron ore in commercial volumes was a major boost to the iron and steel industry.
He said the Ghana Iron and Steel Development Corporation Bill that was passed by Parliament recently was awaiting Presidential Assent for work on the corporation to start.
Visualised map
The visualised map, which was designed by a development consultant, Professor Kwame Addo, presented details of all the natural resources and the specific areas in the country where they are located.
For instance, the map provides details of all water, mineral and forest resources in the country.
It also contains details about communication, road and rail infrastructure and possible areas where development infrastructure could be sited.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the map would help in the country’s development planning, adding that the Ministry of Planning, would collaborate with Prof. Addo for further development of the visualised maps.
Resource sustainability
The Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Professor Stephen Adei, said the map would help in the sustainable exploitation of the country’s natural resources.
“If you do not know what you have, you are miserable and you cannot even negotiate for something good for your resources. If Ghana knows how much oil, iron, steel and other resources we have, our negotiation will be different and we will get good value for the resources we have,” he said.
Prof. Adei also observed that the visualised map would facilitate the implementation of government policies and programmes for accelerated development.
He urged Ghana and other African countries to be diligent in determining the value of their natural resources and harness them to improve on the livelihood of the people.
Source: Daily Graphic
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Apart from all these natural resources we have beaches stretch along the coast. Let our MPs and opinion leaders take actions to develop all these GOD given resources. Also as citizen we should change or life
I share the same opinion as Bomber. I also believe God is beginning to unveil many hidden resources to us just because we decided this time to share across board through social initiatives and policies. May God help us and.grant our leaders divine wisdom to make us a great nation.
please don't sell it to foreigners and make sure it benefits the inhabitants of the region. God has blessed us with so many natural resources but we lack wisdom. It is free of charge, our leaders should ask God wisdom and He will give them freely
@Leadership... "Ghana is Africa's largest producer of gold. Ghana has found Africa's largest deposit of oil......" ..best Comment Ever read!!
Great post
I am beginning to have the feeling that God is telling us that, if we will share our resources for everyone to benefit from it through massive social intervention policies like the Free SHS he will continue to open up more resources hidden in the earth for us. We need to develop policies that forces successive governments to share our wealth more fairly through social intervention policies.
Sheini is in the Tatale-Sanguli District and not the Yendi Municipality.
Ghana has just discovered the largest common sense and leadership inside the Tano basin. Africa with all the resources, we are still referred to as a third world country. Big leadership and common sense vacuum is our problem.
Ghana is Africa's largest producer of gold. Ghana has found Africa's largest deposit of oil. Ghana is Africa's second largest producer of cocoa. Ghana has bauxite. Ghana has Timber. Ghana has diamond. Ghana has Natural gases. Ghana has just found a new mineral; lithium. Ghana has fresh water and fertile soil. Ghana has sunshine and rain all year round. The only essential mineral resources Ghana has not found in commercial quantities is leadership and common sense!!!!
Ghana is Africa's largest producer of gold. Ghana has found Africa's largest deposit of oil. Ghana is Africa's second largest producer of cocoa. Ghana has bauxite. Ghana has Timber. Ghana has diamond. Ghana has Natural gases. Ghana has just found a new mineral; lithium. Ghana has fresh water and fertile soil. Ghana has sunshine and rain all year round. The only essential mineral resources Ghana has not found in commercial quantities is leadership and common sense!!!!