Alumni Seminar 2022 Ghana
Sustainable Mining, Natural Resources Awareness and Social Acceptance of Mining
7 - 12 November 2022 at UMaT Ghana
For mining companies, sustainable practices are essential for their “licenses to operate” and their managers need to be environmentally and socially responsible and ensure that costs are covered by revenues. Sustainable mining offers new opportunities for “the capacity for the biosphere (environment) and human civilization to coexist”.
In many resource dependent countries, people resist – sometimes vigorously – mining projects because they see no benefits for their communities and fear the environmental impacts. The Mining and mineral sector in many African countries is fraught with many illegal operations, health and safety challenges, environmental destruction of water bodies and biodiversity, community agitations for more investments in local infrastructure, etc. Often, protests are raised against mining companies and resistance may lead to interruptions of mining operations. The transition into a sustainable future, requires collaborative efforts of industry, institutions and mining communities themselves as catalysts of change.
All this shows the importance of the subject of the Seminars for Alumni who work as professionals in the mining and minerals sector, the mining equipment sector, investors in these sectors, trade unions, consultancy, government agencies, NGOs and research institutions.
The host of the alumni seminar in 2022 is University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa, Ghana.
Application procedure
Your application (in English language) should emphasize your motivation and personal/professional benefit for your participation. You should illustrate how you plan to integrate the knowledge and experiences obtained at the seminar in Tarkwa into your professional work and how you will involve stakeholders in your co-operation activities.
We only accept online applications to be sent online or to the contact e-mail addresses shown below, only in case you have difficulties with the online uploading.
The deadline for submission is 16 October 2022. We cannot accept any exceptions and delays.
Submit your application on the application website
containing
- the online application form
- a short CV with photograph
- relevant documentation of your alumni status
- presentation of your contribution to the seminar, which can be designed creatively, for example as a video or poster
Please, do not include letters of recommendation.
Please note: Completeness of personal data mentioned in the online application form will affect your eligibility as a participant.
After a review by the organizing committee, invited participants will be notified at the end of October 2022 at the latest.
You will have to confirm the acceptance of your invitation by a given deadline date mentioned in the confirmation letter.
For further questions and for submission of your application, please use the following e-mail addresses:
Prof. Dr. Jan C. Bongaerts (j-c [dot] bongaerts [at] ioez [dot] tu-freiberg [dot] de)
Dr. Jiangxue Liu (Jiangxue [dot] Liu [at] bwl [dot] tu-freiberg [dot] de)
Programme
Preliminary Programme
Time Line | Activity | Remarks |
---|---|---|
Day 0 - 6 November 2022 | ||
Arrival | ||
Day 1 - 7 November 2022 | ||
Morning Session Official Opening Ceremony | Words of welcome by UMaT, Host University of the Seminar | Prof. Dr. Richard K. Amankwah, Vice-Chancellor |
Words of welcome by the Convenors of the Seminar | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Carsten Drebenstedt, TU Bergakademie Freiberg Prof. Dr. Jan C. Bongaerts, TU Bergakademie Freiberg | |
Words of welcome by DAAD | Director of DAAD Information Centre, Accra | |
Keynote Address Natural resources awareness and social acceptance of mining – The GIADEC Experience | Michael Ansah, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) | |
Address by Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources (MP) | Hon. George Mireku Duker | |
Lunch Break | ||
Afternoon Session Lectures and Discussion | The mission of FGES and FMMT for education, research and industrial practice for Sustainable Mining | Prof. Anthony Ewusi (German Alumnus BTU), Dean of the Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Studies (FGES) |
Corporate Social Responsibility and ESG in Mining: The African perspective | Dr. Akyene Tetteh Management Studies Department, Faculty of Integrated Management Science (FIMS) | |
Health and safety and environmental protection in African mining operations | Prof. Newton Amegbey (German Alumnus TU Berlin) Mining Engineering Department, FMMT | |
Small-scale gold mining and the problem of mercury: the alternative of direct gold smelting | Prof. Sulemana Al-Hassan Mining Engineering Department, FMMT | |
Environmentally friendly methods for gold recovery/extraction | Prof. Grace Ofori-Sarpong, Dean School of Postgraduate Studies (SPS) | |
Discussion | ||
Day 2 - 9 November 2022 | ||
Morning Session Presentation and Poster Session | Short presentations and poster session by Alumni | Dr. Jiangxue Liu (TU Bergakademie Freiberg) as Co-ordinator of the Session |
Lunch Break | ||
Afternoon Session Short-Course with interactive participantion | Stakeholder involvement in Mining operations:
| Prof. Dr. Jan C. Bongaerts (TU Bergakademie Freiberg) with contributions by
|
Day 3 - 10 November 2022 | ||
Excursion Day | Visits to Goldfields Ghana Limited – CSR in action –communities social interactions with the company and development projects | Edmund Hassan & Dr. Asare Asante-Annor as coordinators |
Evening Session | Official seminar dinner | Dinner Speech by Flurina Graf Ackah, Head of Competence Centre Mining and Mineral Resources West Africa, German Delegation of Industry, Accra |
Day 4 - 11 November 2022 | ||
Morning Session Mining Stakeholder's Day | (Illegal) small-scale mining and deficient tailings cause environmental and health hazards | Dr. Eric Stemn Environmental and Safety Engineering Department, FGES |
Small-scale mining and its impacts on agricultural land and food security – a case study of Kyebi | Adams Kyei Nyarko (Freiberg Alumnus) | |
Ghanaian communities endowed with natural resources and forgiveness as a tool for restoring peace | Antoinette Tsiboe Darko PhD DAAD African Ghanaian-German Centre for Development Studies Alumna, Centre of Policy Studies, University of Ghana | |
Mining law, development and human rights | Prof. Raymond A. Atuguba, Dean, School of Law, University of Ghana, Legon | |
Assessing the effects of mining taxation on the environment in Ghana | Dr. Alex Moyem Kombat, (German Alumnus BTU) Assistant Commissioner of Research and Policy, GRA | |
Lunch Break | ||
Afternoon Session Panel Discussion | Panel discussion 1: how can miners assure the acceptance of mining & maintain their social licence to operate?
| Panelists:
|
Day 5 - 12 November 2022 | ||
Scientific Excursion Day | Visit to AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine – Processing and Environmental departments Visit to a small-scale mining site | Edmund Hassan & Dr. Asare Asante-Annor as coordinators |
Alumni Meeting | Alumni Meeting & Cultural Night
| |
Day 6 - 13 November 2022 | ||
Departure |