Minerals Commission Boss Welcomes Diaspora Mining Expert Team on Galamsey Regularization Strategy

The CEO of Ghana Minerals Commission (MinCom), Mr. Addae Antwi Boasiako welcomed a team of Ghanaian mining experts abroad who are currently in Ghana to assist the government in ensuring a comprehensive small-scale mining formalization plan for the sector. The alarming rate of environmental degradation caused by illegal and small-scale mining activities in the country is a national issue and hence, the team finds it necessary to contribute with their knowledge and experience gained from the western world.

The MinCom boss displayed a high level of professionalism and showed his willingness to support the team to contribute effectively to national development. According to him, Ghana has mined minerals for over hundred years and this is the time we create conducive environment to attract all knowledgeable and experienced hands on deck in the country’s efforts to change the status quo and make the country benefit from the natural resources exploited from the ground.

Mr. Antwi Boasiako believes that an effective monitoring plan needs to be put in place to curb the illegal mining activities and strengthen the taxation of the licensed small-scale mining operations to improve the country’s revenue generation from the mineral exploitation in the country. In response, the team disclosed that some of the members will develop a monitoring software for surveillance and create a taxation software system to facilitate collection of taxes from the small-scale miners.

The team is planning to structure the small-scale mining business in such a way that everyone engaged in SSM activity will be employed, either on contract or permanent basis by the company owners. In that case, employee taxes will be much easier than the existing form. In addition, the team will serve as an external audit team and be visiting Ghana every quarter to evaluate the performance of small-scale mining companies and the government mine inspectors in terms of degradation and strict adherence to safety.

Furthermore, the team is planning to develop a system to check mineral exports by the foreign nationals in the country. “If the small-scale miners produced 31% of Ghana’s gold export in 2016, then there is the need to pay attention to that sector because the government can generate appreciable revenue from their activities.”, Solomon Owusu, one of the coordinators said. The team believes that Ghana can do better in the mining sector if the government ensures that the right procedures are followed.

The team comprises of thirty (30) Ghanaian mining professors, mining doctors, industry top class employees and consultants from USA, Canada, Australia, Norway and Ghana. The presence of some members of the team in Ghana is purposely to conduct fieldwork in all the eight (8) affected “galmsey” regions to interact with the miners and understand their mining and processing procedures to help generate effective policy framework to guide the exploitation of minerals through small-scale mining operations.

After the field assessment, the team will submit recommendations to the relevant decision-makers to integrate them into the existing policies to minimize or end the water pollution, air pollution and land degradation aspects associated with small-scale mining operations. In the interest of the nation, the team’s strategy will be a win-win situation for the miners and the entire citizenry.

The team has already met the immediate past CEO of Ghana Minerals Commission, Dr. Toni Aubynn who initiated the Multilateral Mining Implementation Project (MMIP), the CEO of Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr. Sulemanu Koney and some key employees at the Ministry of Lands & Natural Resources, including the minister, Mr. John Peter Amewu. The experts will meet the Sanitation and Water Resources Minister, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda and the leadership of National Association of Small-Scale Miners.

Since July last year, the team has been communicating with Mr. Amewu on the project and he assured them of his preparedness to receive them in Accra. As the government is planning to lift the ban imposed on small-scale mining, the team’s goal is to ensure that the miners operate within the confines of the country’s laws and in conformity to international standards which can upgrade the small-scale mining entities to Junior Mining Companies.

The regions to be visited by the team include Ashanti, Eastern, Western, Central, Brong Ahafo and the three northern regions. Members of the team will travel back to their various destinations after the fieldwork. To avoid recurring degradations, the team advises the Ghana government to be circumspect in the compilation of the roadmap document supposed to ensure environmentally friendly small-scale operations and make wide consultations to ensure that the plan will be simple and practical to lessen the burden on the miners, the citizens and the government.