Ghana Chamber of Mines holds annual general meeting

The Ghanaian mining industry has not been insulated from external developments and pressures in spite of its best efforts, the President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr James Kwamena Anaman, told the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Chamber in Accra late Friday.

Giving an overview of the performance of the sector for 2001 to date, he said: "During the period under review, the global mining industry witnessed major acquisitions reviews and shut downs, which affected the landscape of the industry. The big producers became even bigger while the smaller ones were squeezed out in the chase for investor attention."

Anaman said total minerals revenue in 2001 was 661.97 million dollars compared to 693.2 million dollars in 2000, representing a drop of five per cent. He said Bauxite, Manganese and Diamond exports revenues increased by 27 per cent, 22 per cent and 24 per cent in that order but could not make up for the 8 per cent fall in revenue from gold, adding; "gold's dismal performance was the result of a shrink in production by 6 per cent and a lower realised unit price."

The industry's struggle to maintain a good handle on costs -increased tariffs for power, higher costs for fuel, imported reagents and other vital supplies - have all posed significant problems for the sector, he said and urged the government to take the necessary measures to address these issues.

The country's Minister of Mines, Kwadwo Adjei-Darko told the meeting Ghana is putting in place the necessary legislation to enhance the performance of the mining industry, as well as attract and protect foreign direct investment to the sector.

"With regards to the review of the Minerals and Mining Law, the Bill is currently at the Attorney-General's Department for it to be couched in the appropriate legal language and I am confident that it will not take long for it receive parliamentary approval," Mr Adjei-Darko.

This, he said, had become necessary because "we have seen a well stepped up competition from other African countries with attractive Mining and Minerals Laws that have wooed investors, thereby sucking up investment capital which would have otherwise come to Ghana."

He told the Chamber that Ghana's uncompetitive mining laws had not helped the situation while internally, concerns about royalty disbursement, community and worker agitations and complaints about environmental problems, both perceived and real, had combined to inhibit performance of the mining industry.

"I was at the Indaba Conference in South Africa recently and was saddened to witness the amount of investments that had gone to Mali, Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Guinea." Mr Adjei-Darko said the government was determined to ensure that the industry, which had maintained its dominance as the major foreign exchange earner, continued to be well positioned to make substantial contributions towards realising the objectives of reconstructing and developing the country.