Upper East Region has gold deposits in 7 districts - Miners demand licences for small-scale mining
Seven out of a total of 15 Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) in the Upper East Region have large quantities of gold deposits, a situation that has seen some small-scale miners calling on the Minerals Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to demarcate some concessions for them to enable them to engage in small-scale mining.
The beneficiary MDAs are the Builsa North, Kassena Nankana and Bolgatanga municipalities and the Bongo, Talensi, Nabdam and Bawku West districts respectively.
Out of the seven MDAs with gold deposits, it is only in Talensi District that two large-scale mining firms, Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited and Cardinal Namdini Mining Limited, have been granted leases and are currently mining in the area.
The Regional Minister, Donatus Akamugri Atanga, made this known while interacting with a section of the media.
Release concessions
During a recent regional forum in Bolgatanga organised ahead of the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board, some small-scale miners called on the Minerals Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to demarcate some concessions for them to enable them to engage in small-scale mining.
The Regional Chairman of the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners (GNASSM), Yaw Mort, indicated that such a move would enable them to contribute to the government’s vision of using the Gold Board to stabilise the currency and shore up the country’s foreign reserves.
He stated that the government should not only be interested in granting licences to large-scale firms but should also consider giving licences to small-scale miners.
In a response, the acting Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Sammy Gyamfi, said the government, acting through the relevant agencies and ministries, would take steps to make concessions available to small-scale miners to increase gold production.
Writer’s email; gilbert.agbey@graphic.com.gh.
