Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 2015, Vol. 3, No. 3, 81-94 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/aees/3/3/3 © Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/aees-3-3-3 Environmental Impacts of Mining: A Study of Mining Communities in Ghana Albert K. Mensah1,*, Ishmail O. Mahiri1, Obed Owusu2, Okoree D. Mireku3, Ishmael Wireko4, Evans A. Kissi5 1Department of Geography, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya 2Department of Economics, Dalhousie University, 6214 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 3Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana 4Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan, 101 Defeinbaker Place, Saskatoon, Canada 5Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Georg-August-University of Gottingen, Germany *Corresponding author:
[email protected] Received May 25, 2015; Revised June 20, 2015; Accepted July 02, 2015 Abstract Mineral exploitation contributes significantly to economic growth and development in most world economies. In Africa, Ghana is the second largest gold producer, contributing to about 5.7% of the country’s GDP. The mining sector in Ghana consists of both small-scale and large-scale mining, each of which has varying environmental impacts. This paper provides an exposition on the environmental impacts of mining activities in Ghana. The paper mainly focused on the mining activities in Prestea in the western region of the country. The data collection involved both primary and secondary sources. These included research tools such as review of relevant literature including policies and legal documents, participant observation, in-depth interviews with mining communities and government officials, environmental assessments of various mining sites in the study area.