Mining laws to be overhauled to curb illegal operations

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, has announced plans to comprehensively overhaul Ghana’s mining legal framework as part of renewed government efforts to sanitise the sector and promote responsible mining practices.

He made this known during a working visit by Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang to the Ministry on Tuesday, January 27, where he disclosed that amendments to the Mining Act are being finalised for submission to Cabinet and subsequently to Parliament.

According to the Minister, the proposed reforms seek to align existing mining laws with current realities in the sector, with particular emphasis on formalising and expanding cooperative mining as a sustainable alternative to illegal mining.

“In the mining subsector, we want to operationalise the Mining Act. We are completely overhauling it, and it is on its way to the Cabinet and then to Parliament to amend the laws in line with the new measures we have introduced,” he stated.

Armah Kofi Buah explained that part of the reforms will involve working closely with the Ghana Geological Survey Authority to identify mineralised zones, which will allow the government to properly organise cooperative groups for regulated and responsible mining activities.

“People are mining everywhere because they do not know where the gold is. We are working with the Ghana Geological Survey Authority to identify mineralised areas so that we can organise cooperative groups for responsible mining,” he added.

The Minister said the overhaul forms part of broader government interventions aimed at curbing illegal mining while ensuring the sustainable exploitation of Ghana’s mineral resources.

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