By Kofi Adu Domfeh
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.
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