Small-Scale Mining in the East Akim Municipality: A "Resource Curse" in Disguise?

Joseph Mihaye

Abstract: Mineral resource deposits abound in the East Akim Municipality, and mining in the area is dominated by small-scale mining. This study examined the socio-economic menace that small-scale mining has bequeathed to individuals and catchment communities in the East Akim Municipality. The concurrent nested mixed method design was adopted for the study. A total of 260 respondents comprising 50 miners, 200 non-miners and 10 opinion leaders were sampled through systematic and purposive sampling techniques from four communities, namely; Kibi, Apapam, Adadientem and Ahwenease in the East Akim Municipality. Systematic sampling was used for sampling respondents from households in the communities for survey. A three-point Likert-scale questionnaire of Cronbach?s alpha coefficient ( ) of 0.76 was used for the survey while semi-structured interview guide was employed for interview. This study concludes that small-scale mining is both a blessing and curse to the East Akim Municipality, but the negative repercussions are a heavy burden for individuals, households and catchment communities.

Keywords: Mineral, resources, small-scale, mining, land, reclamation, curse