Government undertaking comprehensive review of Minerals Commission – Lands Minister

The Government is undertaking a comprehensive legislative and policy review of the Minerals Commission, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has announced.

He said the Minerals and Mining Act 2006 (Act 703), as amended, and the Minerals and Mining Policy (2014) are under review with extensive stakeholder engagement and were at 85 per cent completion stage.

Mr Buah said this when he took his turn at the Government Accountability Series Press Conference at the Presidency in Accra.

The Government Accountability Series is being organised by the Presidency Communications Bureau as part of efforts to promote transparency and accountability in governance.

He said some significant changes to be made included drastically reducing the number of years that prospecting licences are held from perpetuity to a defined minimal period.

Others are reducing the upper limit for the number of years for the grant of a mining lease from 30 years to an agreed period.

Abolishing Development Agreements and enforcing the signing of Community Development Agreements (CDA), imposing a rate of an agreed percentage of gross revenue from the sale of minerals to fund the community development projects to help fast-track the development of mining communities.

He mentioned the introduction of a three-tier mineral right regime by including a medium-scale licence.

He also cited reducing the upper limit for stability agreements from the current 15 years to allow for capital recovery for huge investments only or abolishing it altogether, as well as abolishing the automatic right to the renewal of licences when certain conditions were not met.

Mr Buah said under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama, and with extensive stakeholder engagements that included traditional authorities, civil society groups, and academia, government was committed to ensuring that the review of the Act corrects the imbalances of the past and secures a brighter future for the benefit of all Ghanaians.

He said in the fight against galamsey, 55 small-scale mining licenses issued during the transitional period were revoked at the beginning of the year.

Mr Buah said additionally, 907 out of 1,278 licenses were now under review for possible revocation due to irregularities identified by the Small-Scale Mining Review Committee.

He said a similar exercise was currently ongoing to review large-scale mining licenses to ensure compliance.

The Minister said these measures were aimed at sanitising the mining sector to ensure transparency and sustainable operations.

“The Mining Sector is the lifeline for millions of Ghanaians, and as we all know, Ghana is blessed with an abundance of minerals – Gold, diamonds, bauxite, iron, salt, and others.

“These natural resources are under unprecedented global strain due to rapid population growth, urbanisation, escalating demand for raw materials, and the compounding effects of climate change,” he said.

He said the Government recognises that for Ghana to fully harness the benefits of its mineral wealth, the law must be strengthened to ensure equity, sustainability, and shared prosperity for all stakeholders, especially our communities, which bear the direct brunt of mining activities.

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