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BioDiesel Ltd. (now BioFuel Africa) and Ghana Chamber of Mines today entered into an agreement to develop a biodiesel strategy for the lands under the control of Chamber members, which represent the interests of 90 percent of all mining companies in Ghana.
As part of a poverty reduction program, Chamber member companies have introduced Alternative Livelihood Projects with the aim of ensuring long-term sustainability of the communities on or surrounding their Chamber member lands, even after mining activities have ceased in a particular region. To meet program goals, the Chamber has entered into a collaborative agreement with BioDiesel Ltd. for a biodiesel cultivation and refining program to enable Ghana to become a major supplier of biofuel in the near future.
Member companies will provide start-up capital to out growers for land preparation, as well as extend microcredit and agriculture inputs for program build-out. Jatropha will be the one of the key crops cultivated in this scheme.
Ghana Chamber of Mines members include AngloGold Ashanti, Newmont Ghana, GoldField's Ghana, Ghana Bauxite and Ghana Manganese. There are currently 430,400 hectares of land under the control of these companies, which together employ more than 50,000 people directly and indirectly.
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