Investigations conducted by The Chronicle have established that Ghana Manganese Company (GMC), a mining giant operating at Nsuta in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal of the Western Region, is in serious crisis.
The Russia-Ukraine war has dealt a devastating blow to the company, as it is the only mining firm in Ghana that exports manganese ore to Ukraine, but since February 24, this year, when the war broke, millions of tonne of the ore have piled up at the Takoradi Port.
This development, The Chronicle understands, has seriously affected the revenue stream of the company, which is now depending on an overdraft to pay its workers and for other expenses.
A source, which pleaded anonymity, told The Chronicle that management was considering sending the entire staff home or reducing working hours as a means to temporarily cushion the situation, but no definite decision has since been taken after an emergency Board meeting held on June 28.
Checks at Ghana Railway Company (GRC), which carts the manganese to the Takoradi Port on behalf of GMC, have also established that the company was still hauling ore from Nsuta to the Takoradi Port. As at Wednesday June 6, 2022, 90,000 tonnes of manganese ore had been hauled to the port, but to a different location, as the storage facility at the port was full.
Management of the GMC appears tight-lipped over the crisis, as all efforts made by this reporter to speak to them have proven futile.
The reporter first approached the Public Relations Department of the company to speak on the issue. The PR Unit directed the reporter to the External Relations Office. The latter refused to speak to the reporter, and further directed him to the Chief Finance Officer (CFO). The CFO, after taking particulars and contacts of the reporter, promised to get back to him, but had failed to do so for a month now.
The Chronicle then made efforts to speak to the General Manager in charge of Operations at the Takoradi Ports, but he also failed to speak to the reporter despite numerous calls to his cell phone.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in charge of Mining, George Mireku Duker, has, at a donation of industrial sewing machines to five beneficiaries in is constituency recently, spoken about how the Russia-Ukraine war had affected operations of the GMC.
He told the gathering that all investments of GMC, which hitherto would have been exported to Ukraine, had been locked up at the port.
