The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duke, has announced that the Ministry will introduce a yearly Award scheme for the best Small-Scale mining concessions, an initiative which will begin this year to demonstrate the best practices and encourage other miners to emulate.
The Ministry, he said, will soon set up a task force to monitor the operations of miners across the country stressing that “We want you to do the right things, drop your old self and take on your new clothes in mining.”
Honorable George Mireku Duke said this during a meeting with the Ghana National Association of Sm Small-scale mining permits can be acquired for a parcel of land by Ghanaian citizens who are over 18 years old (Ghana Government 1989a).
Although the process is available, roughly 85% of Ghana’s small-scale mines do not register for these permits (Hilson and Potter, 2003). All-Scale miners (GNASSM).
Artisanal and small-scale mining is estimated to support the livelihoods of some 4.5 million Ghanaians, about 12% of the population. They account for more than 60% of the country’s mining sector labor force.
Artisanal and small-scale mining is low-tech, indigenous, and often informal.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Kofi Atakora
