SALT MINING / INDUSTRY IN GHANA

Salt Industry in Ghana

Salt as a renewable natural resource contributes billions of Ghana cedis annually to the economy and employs more than 1,500 people. In the ECOWAS sub-region, the demand for industrial salt is estimated at over 3 million tonnes. Ghana and Senegal, the biggest regional players, possess all the right conditions for commercial salt production and together produce 350,000 tonnes per year. But this is not enough to satisfy demand and imports from Brazil, Australia and Europe make up the shortfall.

Ghana has abundant salt deposits but is unable to satisfy West African demand let alone successfully compete with global producers. Salt deposits are inexhaustible, but the demand is enormous and currently outstrips supply. Known as 'white gold', salt is one of the most common minerals on the planet and throughout history has served as an important foundation of civilisation. 

Salt production in Ghana started in the 19th century and, aside from fishing, it is the major economic activity of people along its 500km coastline. The salt producing areas in Ghana include the Keta lagoon, the Songhor lagoon, the Densu Delta area, Nyanya lagoon, Oyibi lagoon, Amisa lagoon, Benyah lagoon.

In Ghana, a tropical country, salt is of vital importance for food preservation, especially in rural areas, where it constitutes the only means of preservation.

Salt can be classified by the four methods used for its production:

? Rock salt mining (rock salt),

? Solar evaporation (solar salt)

? Vacuum evaporation (vacuum salt)

? Salt in brine (solution mined brine)

Ghana’s geographical location, climatic and meteorological conditions are suitable for solar

salt production. A narrow strip of grassy and scrubby coast runs from a point near Takoradi

in the west to the Togo border in the east. This coastal savanna, only about eight kilometres

in width at its western end, stretches eastward through the Accra Plains, where it widens to

more than eighty kilometres, and terminates at the south-eastern corner of the country at

the lower end of the Akwapim-Togo Ranges. This area is most suitable for salt production

and all salt producing units are in this zone.

Three salt production methods have been identified in the country. These are:

1. Salt Winning

2. Artisanal Solar Salt Production

3. Modern Solar Salt production

Industrial Salt Uses

? In the oil industry, salt is used to increase the density of mud and soil, which creates a more safe and efficient drilling rig. Although salt may not be used extensively in off-shore drilling, enormous amounts of salt are required to facilitate drilling on land.

? In Oil Refineries, Refiners use Rock Salt/crystal salt to dry distillate cracked product streams. Rock salt/crystal salt has the capacity to reduce product haze point from 150 to 200 F. below the operating temperature of the salt dryer. Industrial grade Salt are used in the Oil refinery Industry and Petrochemical Industry as per customer specification and needs. The quality of the salt along with the size and size distribution of the salt is important since they are used in the production of oil and other fuels. Oil Refinery Grade Salt is a premium product and must be of high quality because of its use in the oil refinery industry and the Petro-chemical industry. In oil refineries, the hydro-desulfurization units for Jet and Diesel need coalescer and salt dryer when stripper column is designed with direct stripping steam. The salt dryer completely avoids product off specification in water content and appearance.

? Pharmaceutical companies also use salt in the process of making capsules, as well as the production of saline solutions, which have widespread secondary uses. Saline solutions are not only useful for contact solution, but also for intravenous formulas. Salt use by the medical and pharmaceutical companies accounts for a large percentage of the total national industrial salt usage.

? the majority of the world’s industrial salt is used to deice roads and to create a safer driving surface, not only for the public, but for government use as well. Sixty to eighty percent of globally mined salt is used to improve the safety of public transit in one capacity or another, but usually to decrease the freezing point of snow and ice.

? Chemical production relies heavily on salt as well, as industrial salt is used as a filler for detergents and solvents, causing the chemical to be more rapidly dissolved in water. Since salt separates many of the components required for making soap, chemical industries include large amounts of industrial salt in the process of making soap.

? Solar ponds and other energy producing facilities require large amounts of salt to maintain a necessary salinity, adding to the application of industrial salt as an energy producer. Since salt is relatively cheap, available in large quantities in South America and Africa, rock salt and industrial salt come into increasing demand with increased availability of solar energy.

Economic benefits

Ghana has the production potential of 2.2 million tonnes of salt annually. Economists in Ghana believe the nation's salt industry represents a potential source of revenue from Nigerian purchasers who currently rely on Brazilian imports. The market in Nigeria which now is the largest has been captured by Brazil due to its high quality of salt. The reason Ghana cannot compete with Brazil is not far-fetched. The country lacks the basic infrastructure to refine its salt and to increase production to meet market demands.

The Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) has requested that the Commonwealth Secretariat establish a framework in Ghana to coordinate the development of the salt sector in the country. As a result, a team of consultants have conducted many interviews and seminars and undertaken market analysis with a realistic strategy and targets. While developers realise that Ghana will never be a leading world producer, the proponents believe that the development of the salt industry in Ghana will be important to the economy and the overall economic development of western Africa in supply.

Besides, it is equally important that we add value to the salt and think of converting it into other chemical products to enable us meet international competitors like Brazil and Australia who have dominated the West African market. Our capacity is low, sometimes let us involve partnership, which would be of interest to the nation.

Clearly, industrial salt has widespread application, which means increased demand over time. Although industrial salt may not be the world’s rarest resource, it’s high demand for safety and manufacturing purposes means that salt prices will continue to fluctuate for the foreseeable future. To ensure a flowing salt pipeline, most industrial salt consumers are considering salt from a variety of global sources.

Setup Cost

With an initial capital of 50,000 USD, the investors can do the following:

1.     Register a company here in Ghana with the Registrar general’s department

2.     Register with the Minerals Commission of Ghana for the salt mining license

3.     Buy a small-scale salt concession

Due to the high demand nature of the product, the investor will be able make significant profit on his investment within some few months. Salt mining comes with higher returns and most importantly, it is renewable and very cheap to operate.

The cost of office rental/setup is not included in the amount ($50,000) stated above. Any reasonable investor will initially reduce cost to maximize profit so I will encourage a maximum office space of 100 sq meter since most of the work will be in the field. 

Please contact Kwesi for more information.

Email: [email protected]

Tel/whatsapp : 00233243682792

Skype: kwesi.y