Ghana
can preserve its limestone deposits by depending on the abundance of clay to
serve the country’s construction needs, says Engineer Mark Bediako.
The
research scientist foresees dependence on clay as an industrial mineral
resource in the near future.
Limestone
is a major ingredient in the production of cement, which is a critical
component in Ghana’s building and construction industry.
Upscale of
local production of cement has been impeded by limited mining and exploration
of limestone deposits.
“In sustainability,
you really have to look at materials that are in abundance to compensate
materials that are in less quantity. So with clay being in abundance we can be
in the context of sustainability”, said Mr. Bediako.
Available
records indicate that clay can be mined in all the regions of Ghana – which makes
the product suitable raw material base for the ceramic and building industries.
Clay is
a major raw material in the manufacturing of pozzolana, a cement complement product
developed by local researchers at the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI)
of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Mr.
Bediako, who works at the BRRI, cited pozzolana as an environmentally beneficial
energy-intensive material in mitigating the effects of global warming.
“Research
has proven that between 6-8 percent of the global warming gases released into
the atmosphere comes from the cement industry because of the energy generated”,
he observed. “Now if you really want to cut down on the carbon dioxide emission
in the context of think global, act local, you need to bring in a material that
can cut down the emission by almost half; that one can be achieved with the
production of pozzolana”.
Mixing
pozzolana with clinker cement produces cost-effective mortar and concrete.
The Pozzolana
Ghana Limited currently has a daily production of 5,000 bags at its Gomoa
Mprumem commercial plant, whilst the BRRI plant in Kumasi bags 200 per day.
Story by
Kofi Adu Domfeh
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