….Akufo-Addo commissions processing plant today
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will today, August 30, 2023, commission the Electrochem Salt Mine and Processing Plant in Ada-Songor.
The Company, has secured a15-year mining lease by Parliament in October 2020, granting it a concession of 41,000 acres at Ada Songor to produce 1,000,000 metric tonnes of salt per annum to supply to local and export markets.
The Ada Songhor Salt Project, initially produced 60,000 tonnes of salt, but two years into operation the company is now producing between 200,000 to 300, 000 metric tones, after investing over 120 million dollars in the project.
Electrochem Ghana Limited, is a wholly owned Ghanaian company registered in 2017 is strategically positioned to leverage over two decades of expertise and resources to invest in and maximise returns from the salt and chemical industries.
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In the medium term, the output will be increased substantially and part of it used to feed a chlor-alkali plant for the production of caustic soda and other chemical products.
The company also plans to become one of the leading salt producing and chlor-alkaline manufacturing companies in Africa and the world.
Electrochem is 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.
Chiefs, Members of Parliament, Ministers of State, and the business community, have been invited to grace the official commissioning of its operations by the President, Akufo-Addo.
Electrochem is a Ghanaian salt producing company licensed to operate the Songor salt mining concession located in Ada in the Greater Accra Region.
The company was incorporated in 2017 as a fully owned Ghanaian company, in accordance with provisions in the Companies Act, 2019 (ACT 992).
The mining license for Electrochem Ghana was granted in 2020. It is a fifteen-year (15) mining lease, with its accompanying mining license. It was granted by the Government of Ghana for the development and operation of the Songor salt mining concession.
This grant was applied for, and made to Electrochem, by the Government of Ghana, in line with the provisions in the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana on the management of mineral resources in Ghana, the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (ACT 703), Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (ACT 995) and several other legislations that underpin the licensing of the operations of Electrochem and the statutory obligations towards its stakeholders, both state and non-state stakeholders.
Electrochem’s salt concession covers an area of approximately 41,000 acres lying within the jurisdiction of both the Ada East and Ada West local government administrative districts.
Electrochem’s operations commenced in January 2021 with a steely resolve to revamp the national asset to a production capacity of about 1,000,000 metric tonnes of first-rate salt (of 99.9% purity) per annum. Salt produced by Electrochem is to serve both the local and export markets.
The company’s operations are guided by four key corporate principles, namely: Strategic Business Standards and Corporate Practices; Environmental Sustainability; Local partnerships for community development Global Partnership & Growth.
In line with its corporate principles, Electrochem has established strategic partnerships with both local and international organisations, including those with the relevant technical expertise and indigenous knowledge in the industry, aimed at bringing the Songor concession to its full productive capacity for socio-economic transformation.
We have a business culture that places emphasis on the development of our host community, the Ada state, and the improvement in the quality of life of the citizenry.
Operating within the landscape of one of the over 2,500 Ramsar sites in the world and a recognized UN biosphere reserve, Electrochem Ghana Ltd is committed to maintaining high environmental standards to protect existing biodiversity resources.
Their operation is centred on producing salt in large commercial volumes. At the core of this mandate is the need to mechanise a significant part of the concession to increase productivity.
Electrochem has taken significant steps towards mechanising its operations, including the salt washing plants which are being commissioned by the President, today, Wednesday 30th August 2023.
The Electrochem Industrial Area covers an area size of about 30 acres on a 41,000-acre concession which spans the Ada West and East districts and is strategically situated on the western side of the company’s concession.
This area is purposefully equipped with an array of advanced machinery and state-of-the-art facilities, all precisely designed to enhance productivity. The overarching objective is to enable the company to achieve increased operational efficiency and productivity.
The construction of the industrial area commenced in February 2022 and was successfully completed in February 2023 with technical support and guidance from strategic partners, SERRA salt, in Spain. It is a two wing washing line plant with the capacity to wash about 250 tons of salt per hour each.
The washing plants, which are an important component of the industrial area, significantly elevate the quality of harvested salt by improving its purity state to about 99.9%. Electrochem’s washing plants are the largest in the West African sub-region.
