Government
is conducting a geographical investigating into seven sites for alluvial and
primary gold deposits to be parceled out to small-scale miners.
The
sites, covering an area of 368 km2, are among 77 sites blocked out
as part of interventions to curb galamsey activities in the country, announced Lands
and Natural Resources Minister, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini.
He
observed that most of the illegal activities are on large scale mining
concessions with the active connivance of the concession owners.
“These
concession owners are breaching the terms of their licenses and let me state
that punitive measures will be taken against any concession owner who is caught
collaborating with these illegal miners”, he said.
The
Minister noted that it is about time the licensing regime is reviewed “so that
people don’t just keep their prospecting or recognizance licenses forever;
inviting galamsey operators to come and be working on those lands”.
Alhaji
Fuseini is also seeking an amendment of the Minerals Act 703 to make illegal
mining a strict liability offence to protect the interest of the future
generation.
Illegal
mining activities in Ghana killed an estimated 300 lives between 2011 and 2012.
There are also frequent mine accidents as well as other socio-economic and environmental
challenges which have bedeviled Ghana’s mining environment.
Alhaji
Fuseini says illegal gold prospecting should be made an expensive enterprise
because the operations of the miners “have serious national security
implications”.
According
to him, the country could be moving towards a resource curse if the menace of
galamsey is not curbed, stating that the veil must be removed to expose people
behind galamsey operations.
“The
illegal miners operate close to local communities in the full glare of all
stakeholders… The connivance of some chiefs, landlords, farmers and opinion
leaders with foreigners to operate in remote areas is very worrying”.
The
Minister has been addressing the Expanded Council Meeting of the Ghana Chamber of
Mines holding in Kumasi.
Alhaji
Fuseini says government has developed guidelines for the utilization of mining
royalties by local assemblies to address complains of inappropriate use of the
royalties.
“The
Assemblies’ share of the royalties is no longer for recurrent expenditure”, he
stated. “The use of revenue from royalty payment will be benchmarked to enable
the members of the Assembly and the communities within the jurisdiction of a
district assembly to track the utilization of such royalty payments”.
He
added that government is piloting a policy intervention to ensure mining
royalties are paid monthly instead of the current quarterly basis.
Chief
Executive of the Chamber of Mine, Dr. Toni Aubynn, reiterated calls for the
establishment of a Minerals Revenue Fund, modeled along the lines of the
Petroleum Revenue Fund, to remove what he termed the age old suspicion of the
benefits from the receipts from mineral resources.
He
noted that such Fund will allocate “how much should go to government budgets,
how much to be saved for future generation and how much goes to clearly defined
visible developmental projects”. 
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