Sixty excavators used by illegal miners have been confiscated by an anti-Galamsey task force as part of a project to drive illegal miners away from the country.
The confiscation followed multiple projects carried out by the task force in several of the highly endemic and illegal mining communities across the country.
Land and Natural Resources Minister Alma Kofi Bua, who revealed this in a news briefing in Accra yesterday, said the confiscated machines will be deployed to rural communities for reshaping and upgrading roads.
The joint press conference and technology by the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources and the Ministry of the Environment was to update the measures the government has taken to curb illegal mining and disinfect the sector.
Related Articles
The minister said seven of the nine forests occupied by illegal miners had been reclaimed, and efforts were underway to reclaim the remaining two.
Kofi-Buah has revealed that all small-scale mining licenses issued since December 7, 2024 have been revoked by the previous government.
The Minister could not immediately mention the number of licenses that have been revoked and stated that the processes used to issue these licenses were rushed and did not follow a legitimate process.
The Minister said the revocation followed the current licensing regime and proposed recommendations and the Working Committee’s recommendations to consider a comprehensive strategy to tackle the issue of illegal mining licensing.
Kofi-Buah said the existing community mining scheme has been dissolved and replaced by a Small Mining Cooperative (SSMC).
“The cooperatives form after due diligence with the communities involved to properly represent the community,” he said, adding that gold produced by the SSMC through the Ghana Gold Board will be purchased by the government at a general market price.
He said the current small-scale mining regime suffers from a huge number of issues. Therefore, the ministry had established a technical small-scale mining review board to review all existing small-scale licenses.
He said the technical committee’s two-month reference criteria to present the findings is to consider all small-scale mining licenses.
Sign up for the AllAfrica newsletter for free
Get the latest African news
success!
Almost finished…
You need to check your email address.
Follow the instructions in the email you sent to complete the process.
error!
There was a problem processing the submission. Please try again later.
The Minister said the committee should audit all licenses to ensure that they have been properly acquired, that appropriate procedures are followed and that all conditions of ongoing validity regarding the environment, waters, forest reserves and land conservation standards are met.
The committee will be chaired by Deputy Minister of Land and Natural Resources of Yusif Sulemana, and represented by the Director of the Ministry of Environment and Science and Technology, with representatives of the Minerals Commission, EPA, Water Resources Commission, Forestry Commission and the Attorney General.
“All licensees are expected to work together to guide this exercise into this exercise within this period,” Almab said, adding, “All those who have not gone through this process will revoke their licenses.”
Minister of Environment, Science and Technology Dr. Murtara Mohammad described illegal mining as “environmental terrorism.”
He emphasized that illegal mining is destroying the country’s land and waters, adding that the government will not spare individuals or groups involved in illegal mining, regardless of political affiliation.
Dr. Mohammed added that the government was intended to monitor small-scale mining activities and deploy technologies to prevent illegal mining of forest reserves.
The Minister urged all stakeholders to support the government’s efforts to combat illegal mining and restore environmental integrity.
