Akwatia

Coordinates: 6°3′00″N 0°48′0″W / 6.05000°N 0.80000°W / 6.05000; -0.80000

Akwatia
Town
Nickname(s): diamond city
Akwatia

Location of Akwatia in Eastern Region

Coordinates: 06°03′00″N 00°48′00″W / 6.05000°N 0.80000°W / 6.05000; -0.80000
Country Ghana
Region Eastern Region
District Denkyembuor District
Elevation 482 ft (147 m)
Population (2013)
  Total 23,766[1]
Time zone GMT
  Summer (DST) GMT (UTC)

Akwatia is a town in the Denkyem-buor District, a district in the Eastern region of south Ghana and west of the Atiwa Range in the Birim River basin. Akwatia has a 2013 settlement population of 23,766 people.[1] Akwatia is the main center of diamond extraction in Ghana.

Administration

The town is part of the Denkyembour District a newly created district, curved out of the Kwaebibirem District, and is the center of parliamentary constituency of the same name.

Facilities

Education

Schools include St. Rose's´High School and Akwatia Technical Institute. The local football club is the Akwatia Diamond Stars.[2]

Healthcare

Akwatia can boast of two hospitals, The Saint Dominic's Hospital and The Ghanaian Consolidated Diamonds Company Hospital (G.C.D Hospital). The Saint Dominic's Hospital in Akwatia is a 320-bed facility, and well-equipped and the hospital opened an Eye Clinic in 2003.[3]

Diamond mining

The Akwatia diamond field lies in Birimian rocks and has produced more than a 100,000,000 carats (20,000 kg) of diamonds, mostly industrial grade.[4] The Ghana government-owned Ghana Consolidated Diamonds (GCD) is the only formal commercial producer of diamonds, using strip mining with Manitowoc draglines.[5] Large additional resources of diamonds have been identified in the nearby Birim River deposits, including an altered meta-lamproite that may represent a primary diamond source.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 "World Gazetteer online". World-gazetteer.com.
  2. "Division I: Sekondi Eleven Wise win". Modern Ghana Media Communication Limited. 2003-01-14. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  3. "St Dominic's Hospital to operate Eye clinic". Modern Ghana Media Communication Limited. 2003-05-13. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  4. Canales, Dylan G. "The Akwatia Diamond Field, Ghana: Source Rocks". gsa.confex.com. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  5. "Geology and Mineral Deposits". Minerals Commission of Ghana. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  6. Kogel, Edited by Jessica Elzea (2006). Industrial minerals & rocks : commodities, markets, and uses. Littleton, Colo.: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration. ISBN 0-87335-233-5.

External links

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