Electrochem Ghana Limited has released some parts of the Ada Songor Lagoon to communities in the Ada West District of the Greater Accra region for salt mining.
According to Electrochem, this is to bring relief to some 10 communities along the operational concession of the Songor salt mines due to the economic hardship.
The new developers of the Ada Songhor Salt Project are seeking to boost salt production at the facility to one million metric tonnes annually to make Ghana the leading producer of the commodity in West Africa.
Parliament granted Electrochem Ghana Limited a 15-year mining lease in October 2020 to explore the salt resource in the Songor Lagoon and surrounding communities.
The Ada Songhor Salt Project initially produced 60,000 tonnes of salt, but after two years in operation, the company is now producing between 200,000 to 300, 000 metric tonnes after investing over 80 million dollars in the project.
Against this backdrop, Electrochem released parts of its concession for free after two years of operations.
The community relations manager of Electrochem Ghana limited, Bernard Korley, said the gesture is to support the communities ahead of the yuletide.
He said the company, out of goodwill, is constructing special pans for the locals to mine safely on their own without destroying the environment.
“Electrochem is building an ultra-modern salt processing plant to process salt to meet world market standards and to ensure value for money,” Mr Korley added.