Gold Mine

The drive between Kumasi and Obuasi is over an excellent road, even after the Bekwai junction. We used the phone number in the Bradt guidebook to connect to reception -- the extension for the visitor's center did not seem to work, but reception connected us quickly to another extension.


Mine entrance.

A half hour in advance, we booked our tour of the mines. Follow the road right downtown and look for the "Asset Protection Department" (aka visitor reception) just to the right of the second (last) circle in the double-roundabout just before the railway, taxi, and tro-tro station. (Sounds complicated, but isn't really.) They will direct you through a security barrier and then immediately to the right where you collect boots, helmet, smock, and a guide to ride with you in your car. Also, this is where you pay the fee for non-Ghanaians of 16 cedis (currently about 14 US dollars), 4 for Ghanaians. Worth every penny.


Railway at Level 7.

You can take either a surface tour (recommended for the mobility impaired) or the underground tour. The underground tour (which we took) was a thrill, though I suspect the surface tour (of mine openings, processing facilities, etc.) is more educational, at least from the verbal description we received from our very helpful guide Barnabas.


Barnabas, our tour guide.

Barnabas had been an underground miner initially, but says he much enjoys being a tour guide. He led us to the staging area on the other side of town, where we put on a battery and a light for our helmets, plus an emergency oxygen supply, all weighing about 50 pounds hung from a big orange belt around our waists. Quite clunky. We tried to take pictures, but a security guard quickly told us we could not. Barnabas whispered that we should just put the cameras in our pockets until we were safely in the mine, where we could then use them.


Risking my life for a blog.

Since the lift (elevator) was busy transporting rocks, we drove our car around to the old open-pit mine, down a steep hill, to the opening of the mineshaft. From there we walked down a steep incline for about 20 minutes to "level 7". There was a wind of perhaps 50 kilometers per hour being sucked into the mine by the ventilation system, propelling us down the shaft, and later to blast us in the face as we walked back up.


Maridith drills for gold.

Level 7 is the “training” level. We were on level ground, following a railway line past training rooms filled with students. At one point we paused while Barnabas demonstrated drilling equipment and let us pose for pictures. He also let us hold a rock, weighing perhaps 15 kilograms, which he said contained perhaps $1000 worth of gold. We could make out distinct gold flecks all around the vein of quartz embedded in the stone. When we exited the mine, a security guard used a wand metal detector to make sure we didn’t try to carry out any rocks as souvenirs.


Click on image to enlarge.