Prestea is a town in the Western Region, in southwest

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and about 50 km north of the coast of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. It lies on the west bank of the Ankobra River, about 60 mi (100 km) northwest of Cape coast. The town is part of the Prestea-Huni Valley District. Prestea is the forty-sixth most populous in Ghana, in terms of population, with a population of 35,760 people. A railway line used to connects with Prestea to Tarkwa and beyond to the coastal city of

Sekondi-Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indu ...

History of Prestea

Since 1873 there has been mining of gold deposits in Prestea, and in 1965, independent gold mining companies based in Prestea were merged at the time by the government. The World Bank granted a loan in 1985 to finance the gold mining in Prestea, but after three years of continuous losses by the merged gold company, the mines that were privatized from 1994 to 1999 had their mineral rights sold to the Canadian company of

Golden Star Resources Golden Star Resources Ltd was a Canadian company that owned and operated the Wassa gold mine in Ghana. The company formerly owned and operated the Bogoso-Prestea gold mine, also in Ghana, from 1999 to 2020. Headquartered in London, but with a re ...

. The mining of gold caused environmental problems, such as the storage of overburden in the vicinity of the hospital, contamination of the river with toxic waste, as happened in October 2004. Due to the vibrations caused by the explosions, damage was caused to the buildings of the town. The gold mines are a tourist attraction, partly due to the smelter where the gold is melted down into ingots and two tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course.

Economy

The Prestea community has suffered from the detrimental effects of over a century of mining activities, as of 2011 this town still boast of only one senior high school in the area although overwhelming amount of riches is being gained from their soils.

Education

The higher education institution is the Prestea Senior High Technical School. There is also the Prestea Goldfields International School. Due to the presence of gold in abundance in Prestea, the kids don't like pursuing education but rather they like to chase money by indulging in small scale mining practices.

Sports

In the years 2002 and 2003, the town's local football club Prestea Mines Stars played in the highest Ghanaian football league, the

Ghana Premier League The is the top professional association football division of the football league system in Ghana. Officially formed in 1956 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition (which began in 1933 and ended in 1953–54), t ...

. The renovated Prestea stadium was financially supported by the company Bogoso Gold Limited.Prestea stadium under goes rehabilitation works
''modernghana.com''. 25 March 2004. In 2019, the Prestea community was blessed with the establishment of a modern recreational park by Golden Star Bogoso/Prestea Limited. The recreational park has facilities like Female and Male Locker Rooms, Lecture Hall, Two Basketball Courts and Spacious Car Park as well as vast utility area. Since its commissioning, the facility has become a center for social gathering. Political parties host their Presidential Aspirants, Annual NBA Nights, Wedding Reception and Musical Festivals.

Transport

Prestea is the terminus of a railway branchline linked with

Tarkwa Tarkwa is a town and is the capital of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal district, a district in the Western Region southwest of South Ghana. Tarkwa has a 2013 settlement population of 34,941 people. Economy Mining Tarkwa is noted as a centre of gold ...

and

Sekondi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indu ...

Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indu ...

. It is located in the Western region of Ghana.

References