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First female professor of UMAT delivers inaugural lecture
Prof. Ofori-Sarpong delivering her inaugural lecture
The First Female Professor of Minerals Engineering in Ghana and currently the Dean of School of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, in the Western Region, Prof. Grace Ofori-Sarpong, has delivered her first inaugural lecture which is also the seventh lecture of UMaT.
Her topic was “Mycohydrometallurgy; One-Pot Degradation of Double Refractory Gold Ores by Phanerochaete chrysosporium”.
She said “gold was not like a tree you could take and it would shoot up for you to come back and cut again but the moment gold was taken from the ground or soil that ended it except small particles that might be left or hidden.”
She said that technology needed to be developed in order to retrieve the hidden gold from the soil so her lecture was to get the hidden or leftover gold through the application she had researched into and developed.
Prof. Ofori-Sarpong said she was so honoured as a lady to be given the opportunity to showcase what a woman had gone through and brought to the public domain.
She said it was also a platform to tell her counterparts that they should aim high and be determined to reach the sky and surely they would get there.
She disclosed that she had a platform where she and her colleagues assisted the younger girls to aim high and use the sky as a spring board to get to the next level.
She said the gold in the hard rock needed to be broken into very smaller pieces before the gold could be obtained but some gold would still be hidden after breaking the rock so pretreatment was needed to get the rest of the gold out.
She said one way of getting gold was through burning but that method polluted the environment so microorganisms were used to extract the gold and by this method the environment would not be polluted.
The Dean said about a decade ago ‘mycohydrometallurgy’ was introduced into literature to define the application of fungi in hydrometallurgy and this brought to the fore exploration of a ‘one-pot’ transformation of carbonaceous matter (CM) and sulphidic minerals (SM).
The Chairman of the Inaugural Lecture, Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Prof. Richard Kwasi Amankwah said it was an important day in the UMaT Calendar to celebrate the first female professor to deliver her inaugural lecture.
He said as the first female Professor of UMaT all female students looked up to her as a role model for many to also climb the scaffold to greater heights.
From Peter Gbambila, Tarkwa.
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Ghana to locally refine its gold starting October 2025 – Sammy Gyamfi
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, has announced that plans are far advanced for the establishment of a state-owned gold refinery in the country.
Speaking at the 2025 Minerals and Mining Convention, Mr Gyamfi said the refinery will process locally mined gold into bullion instead of exporting it in its raw state.
According to him, it is unacceptable that Ghana, despite being a leading gold producer in Africa, continues to export raw gold known as dore.
He explained that the Gold Board, working with the Bank of Ghana and local refineries, will from October 2025 begin refining gold locally.
He also disclosed that an ultramodern assay laboratory will be built to ensure international standards in testing gold quality.
Mr Gyamfi noted that the refinery will be wholly state-owned and will help Ghana move away from raw mineral exports to value addition.
This, he said, will boost foreign exchange earnings, create jobs, and position Ghana as a hub for gold refining and jewellery production in Africa.
The CEO stressed that the project forms part of government’s strategy to ensure the country benefits fully from its natural resources and to transform the mining sector into a driver of economic growth.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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There is strength in diversity; let’s live in peace – Zanetor Rawlings urges Ghanaians
Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has urged Ghanaians, especially the youth, to value the peace the country enjoys and to see diversity as a source of strength.
Speaking at the National Youth Conference held at the Pentecost Convention Centre under the theme “Igniting Potential; Inspiring Change”, she warned against being lured into conflicts and divisions fueled by reckless statements from politicians, traditional leaders, religious figures, or academics.
According to her, many young people have no idea what it means to live in a country torn apart by war, and therefore must not take Ghana’s peace for granted.
She stressed that the harmony among different ethnic and regional groups should be protected at all costs, since it is peace that allows citizens to gather freely and safely.
Dr. Zanetor said Ghana’s development depends on embracing diversity and working together.
She urged the youth to tap into this strength so that Ghana would continue to shine as the “Black Star” of Africa and serve as an example for other nations.
She expressed appreciation to the participants for attending the conference and asked for God’s blessings on the country.
By: Jacob Aggrey
