The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, has urged the Minerals Commission to refrain from issuing licences to small-scale miners who lack geological data confirming the mineral potential of the areas they intend to operate in.
According to him, the absence of such data often leads to chaotic and environmentally harmful mining practices, as operators tend to mine indiscriminately without understanding the geological composition of their concessions.
Dr Ashigbey made this appeal during the opening of a six-day DAAD Alumni Seminar in Takoradi, themed “Responsible Artisanal and Industrial Miners in Africa.”
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He emphasised the need for the Commission to ensure that every licence application is supported by credible geological evidence:
“The Minerals Commission should not process any licence where the mineralisation of an area is not sufficient to support profitable mining activity,” he said.
Dr Ashigbey also proposed that Ghana adopt best practices from other mining jurisdictions by empowering the Geological Survey Authority to carry out mineral exploration and make the data available to small-scale miners at a reasonable fee.
He noted that such an approach would promote responsible mining, minimise environmental degradation, and enhance revenue generation for the state.
ID/MA
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