The mining industry in Ghana and the West African Sub-region will soon receive a major boost following the establishment of a world-class Geochemical Laboratory at Tarkwa in the Western region of Ghana by SGS Ghana Limited.
The facility will complement the existing facilities available in the country by ensuring that clients receive full scale geochemical analytical services at the highest quality and promptness that is required.
The Client Liaison Manager of SGS Ghana at Tarkwa, Wilfred Appiah, who made the announcement at the just ended maiden edition of the Ghana Gold Expo held in Takoradi, said the facility was one of SGS Ghana’s top notch laboratories in the sub region.
With a network of what some have described as super labs, clients in the mining industry can enjoy various standardized, validated methods and techniques using state-of-the-art equipment that spurs growth and reaches desired targets timeously.
Players in the mining industry can also get enhanced services offered by sister labs for MMI (Mobile Metal Ion) analysis, multi-element analyses by ICP-AES, ICP-MS and XRF.
SGS also invested in FAST technology (Field Analytical Services & Testing), using the pXRF, FTIR and ED-XRF scanning instruments for mineralogical sample analyses.
Carbon and Sulphur analyses are offered from SGS Maslab in Tema, which is also fed from the new SGS environmental feeder, lab recently opened in Cyanide area in Tarkwa.
Mr. Appiah noted that SGS Ghana was part of the global entity SGS, which is recognised as a global benchmark for quality and integrity and the world’s leading inspections, verification, testing and certification company with offices worldwide including Accra, Tema, Tarkwa, Takoradi, Damang, Ahafo, Akyem and Obuasi.
SGS, which was established in 1878 in Europe, opened its Ghana operations in 1960 in Ghana and provide services in the following sectors; Oil, Gas and Chemicals, Agriculture, Food and Life, Certification and Business Enhancement, Environment, Health and Safety, Government and Institutions, Industrial and Minerals.
The company has a network of 2,600 offices and laboratories and more than 94,000 employees around the world.
The Convenor of the Ghana Gold Expo, Dr. Steven Blessing Ackrah expressed excitement about the new facility, adding that, it was a good effort at ensuring responsible mining as the theme of the Expo indicated: “Promoting Responsible Gold Mining and Zero Mercury.”