Gold Fields Ghana Limited, a mining firm in Tarkwa will in the next three years become a major fish supplier to Accra and major cities in the country.
Mr. Peet Van Schalkwyk, Manager of the Tarkwa, mine said the company had started a fish farm which is expected to produce about 50 thousand fishes within six months from one pond.
Water harnessed from the company's underground mine, now has filled four separate ponds and in the next few years Gold Fields Ghana Limited will be producing about 200 thousand tilapia fishes every six months.
Mr. Schalkwyk made this known when selected media practitioners visited the mines to have first-hand information about the operations of
company.
He said fish farming was part of the Company's programme called: "Community Investment Programme," which sought to provide self sustainable projects for communities near the mine and also serve as an employment opportunity for people within the surrounding communities.
Gold Fields Ghana Limited has a 200 million dollar social development fund which is used for community investment with the aim of helping people in the community to have quality life.
Dr. Steve Yirenkyi, Community Investment Manager at Gold Fields Ghana Limited, said the company researched to know the needs of the community and decided to engage in projects that would offer employment to host communities and at the same time serve as sustainable legacy when the mine is no longer useful.
He said apart from the fish farming project, the company also cultivated oil palm , citrus , cocoa ,plantain and raised a piggery on an 80 acres of land formerly used as a tailings dam.
A tailings dam is a place where the waste from the processed gold is stored. It usually contains cyanide.
Dr. Yirenkyi called on government to put in place measures to ensure that royalties from mining are used for verifiable development projects.