Gold mining firm, Shaanxi Mining Company Limited, has denied assertions of smuggling bars of gold outside the country.
The company responding to the allegations leveled against it in a press release averred the individuals arrested at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) by the National Security were officials of the company and not smugglers.
According to the mining firm, the gold bars were being transported from its Gbane mine in the Upper East Region to Accra for sale.
“There is an agreement between these two Ghanaian concessionaires and our company on shares of gold won from the mining activities from these two concessions. Parties have since the production of gold begun in the mine, been receiving their shares without challenges. However, we are informed that after the last production, one of our Ghanaian partners expressed dissatisfaction with the accounting processes,” the company stated.
“On Tuesday June 1, 2021, the three company officials stated above, took gold meant to be our share of the last production, from our mine and were transporting same to Accra for sale. Our dissatisfied partner reported to the National Security that the gold was from his concession and he wasn’t satisfied with the accounting done on the gold won and requested the gold be confiscated to enable both parties sit to reconcile the figures before we proceed to sell our gold. National Security officials in Tamale signalled their partners in Accra to confiscate this gold upon their arrival. Our officers therefore were arrested at the KIA when they disembarked from the Tamale-Accra domestic flight,” it added.
The company expressed shock at how its officials were immediately handcuffed by officers of the National Security with their pictures taken in handcuffs and splashed on the various social media platforms.
The company, through the statement has therefore requested that the public cease any further circulation of the said pictures and allow investigations to come to a reasonable conclusion.
“Shaanxi is a law-abiding company, providing state of the art and safe mining support services to small scale miners whilst meaningfully and economically tapping minerals to the benefit of all parties,” it stressed.
