Abstract:
Many limestone deposits occur naturally in Ghana and a preliminary investigation by
the Geological Survey Department revealed that there are about 3 million tonnes of
limestone in the Oterkpolu limestone deposits. This has led to several limestone quarry
activities along the Odumase to Asesewa road in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The
environmental impacts associated with limestone quarrying have been an issue of local and
global concern, in the search for sustainable mining. Therefore, this work assessed the energy
consumption and environmental impacts of limestone production in the Lower Manya and Yilo
Krobo Municipalities using a life cycle assessment approach. From the study, Yongwa quarry
had the highest limestone production of 723,600 tonnes, followed by Klo- Begoro quarry and
ABL quarry with a production of 117,735 tonnes and 113,670 tonnes respectively. Also, it
was found that Yongwa and ABL quarry use only diesel fuel as energy for limestone
production while Klo-Begoro quarry used electricity and diesel as their energy source which
influenced the extent of their environmental impacts. The resource category resulted in the
greatest environmental impact of 68% followed by climate change (24%), human health (6.8%)
and 1.4% for ecosystem quality. Also, from the normalized results, natural land transformation
resulted in the biggest environmental impacts for all three quarries. Explosives were the main
source of impacts for ABL and Klo-Begoro quarries while diesel usage served as the primary
source of impact for the Yongwa quarry. Malaria, cold and catarrh are the most well-known
ailments among the quarry workers, with members of the community around the quarry
companies complaining of the vibrations from blasting affecting their buildings
