The non-profit organisation, Mercury Free Mining (MFM), has been given a chance to test out its GOLDROP separation process in Ghana, potentially providing artisanal miners with a mercury-free alternative to traditional gold panning.

MFM has been invited by the Ghana National Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners Association to coordinate scientific testing of GOLDROP with the University of Mines and Technology in Tarkwa, Ghana.

North American gold miners, in discussions with MFM, have said GOLDROP equipment is significantly more efficient than traditional gold panning, which often uses mercury to separate gold from other heavy minerals, according to MFM.

MFM Executive Director, Toby Pomeroy, will travel to Ghana on January 8 to begin ten days of scientific field testing of the GOLDROP technology. He said: “MFM is thrilled to be leading the scientific tests of this gold processing system in Ghana, West Africa. We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of toxic mercury use in gold mining.”