Ghana, Africa’s largest gold producer, is amending its mineral and mining law to create a medium-scale mining sector as one of the solutions to illegal mining in the country, an official disclosed on Thursday.
Yussif Sulemana, Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, said during the 11th West and Central Mining Summit in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, that the government considers mining as a key sector in the country’s economy and that it needs to be developed and harnessed for current and future benefits.
“The intention of the government is to introduce medium-scale mining so that we are able to close the gap between the large mining companies and the small-scale miners. So, this is a policy that we have introduced,” Sulemana added.
According to the deputy minister, the medium-scale sector would be allowed to use limited machinery in mining and would be regulated to mine responsibly. Moreover, he said the large-scale mining companies would be tasked to mentor the medium-scale miners and train them in responsible mining methods so they could gradually upgrade to large-scale mining.
He said the intention was to retrain and graduate those using large equipment in small-scale mining into medium-scale mining with limited use of machinery.
Alongside this, Sulemana said the government intends to formalize small-scale mining and restrict them to mining with artisanal tools and prevent them from mining in forest reserves, water bodies, and dry lands.
Both medium-scale and small-scale mining would be open to only locals, and foreign mining investors are restricted to large-scale mining.
Sulemana added that the government would station the military permanently in forest reserves and along water bodies to prevent illegal miners from venturing into these territories.
He added that forest reserves and water bodies would soon become restricted security territories.
“Whether you are a licensed small- or medium-scale miner, mining in water bodies and forest reserves is illegal, so once you are found mining in these places, you are engaged in illegal mining, and that is unacceptable,” he warned.
He added, “The mining sector contributes significantly in terms of job creation and revenue mobilization. So, the government intends to ensure that there is an enabling environment for large-scale mining companies in the country and also bring in more investments into the sector.”