As Ghana’s mining Industry strives to break away from male dominance and environmentally-challenged gold processing methods, the first Ghanaian female Professor in Minerals Engineering, Professor Grace Ofori-Sarpong, has unveiled her Mycohydrometallurgy research work during her Professorial lecture at the University of Mines and Technology in Tarkwa.
Explaining to Citi News after the inaugural lecture, Professor Grace Ofori-Sarpong said her research work titled; Mycohydrometallurgy: ‘One-Pot’ Degradation of Double Refractory Gold Ores by Phanerochaete chrysosporium, is a game-changer for gold processing companies as it uses microorganisms for gold processing instead of the roasting method that pollutes the environment.
“So for my research work, we are using microorganisms and microorganisms are living organisms the we cannot see with our eyes. So microorganisms are able to break down the rocks, release the gold so that we can take it,”she explained.
Professor Grace Ofori-Sarpong who is also the first female Professor to be produced from UMaT said the feat she has reached should be an encouragement for women to seek new heights.
She is currently the Dean of School of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, Ghana.
She holds a PhD in Energy and Mineral Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA, MSc in Environmental Resources Management and BSc in Metallurgical Engineering, both from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana.
She serves as a member on several national boards including the Governing Boards of the Minerals Income Investment Fund, Ghana Chamber of Mines Tertiary Education Fund, and the Governing Council of the University of Mines and Technology.
The Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Prof. Richard Kwasi Amankwa, in his introduction of the lecture said the feet attained by Prof. Grace Ofori-Sarpong as the first Ghanaian female Professor in Mineral Engineering is symbolic and good for the mining industry and UMaT.
