The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resource in charge of mines and natural resources, Hon. George Mireku Duker, yesterday, highlighted what he described as a brilliant policy document on Small Scale Mining (SSM) proposed by the Vice President Dr. Mahamoud Bawumia.
At a press conference at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, he said, Dr. Bawumia’s vision for Ghana’s Mining Sector is hinged on two major themes which are; (1) ushering Ghana into a Golden age for the maximization of the benefits from the natural resources through value addition and Ghanaian ownership and to (2) Establish a new paradigm in natural resource contracts.
Picking on the flagbearer’s specific policy statement on small scale mining for highlight and accentuation, the Deputy Minister in charge of mines told the press that the Vice President’s 19-bulletpoints for transformational reforms in the SSM sector was “brilliant and highly commendable” and needs the buy-in of all and sundry.
Exactly a week today, Dr. Bawumia, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party(NPP) held a lecture in Accra to outline his vision and planned programs for Ghana should he get the nod to lead the country in the upcoming general elections.
Below is the full text of the 19bulletpoints of Dr. Bawumia’s policy statement on SSM in Ghana under the caption ‘Cutting Edge Policies To Consolidate Gains’;
Policy 1
Formalize, regularize and regulate environmentally sustainable small-scale mining. About one million people are engaged in small scale mining. Our goal would be to help grow small scale mining companies into large scale companies with capacity building and assisting them to access financing to acquire equipment. We can create many millionaires in the small-scale mining industry if we support them.
Policy 2
Will support the Minerals Commission and key stakeholders to formalize the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) sector with the objective of ensuring that the activities of the entire value chain are sustainably and responsibly done so that most of the gold produced by this sector can be sold to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and be eligible to be part of the gold reserves of the central bank.
Policy 3
In line with this, we will license all miners doing responsible mining. Districts Mining Committee (including chiefs) will provide initial temporary licenses to miners.
Policy 4
As long as miners mine within the limits of their licenses (e.g No mining in river or water bodies), there will no longer be any seizure or burning of excavators.
Policy 5
Further deepen the decentralization of the minerals commission as well as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and ensure that they are present in all mining districts.
Policy 6
Every Ghanaian in Small Scale Mining will register under Ghana Small Scale Miners Association with their Ghanacard.
Policy 8
We will, in collaboration with the large mining companies, convert abandoned shafts into community mining schemes
Policy 9
Open more new community mining schemes
Policy 10
District mining committees should be responsible for reclamation and replanting;
Policy 11
Pension scheme for small scale miners like we have done for cocoa farmers
Policy 12
Introduce vocational and Skills training on sustainable mining for small scale miners in the curriculum of TVET institutions.
Policy 13
Provide equipment to government authorities in mining communities to undertake reclamation of land
Policy 14
Set up state of the art common user gold processing units in mining districts in collaboration with the private sector.
Policy 15
My government will also conduct an audit of all concessions with various licenses and new applications. This will allow government to know licenses that have expired, and non-compliance with licensing conditions.
Policy 16
To encourage exploration, I will abolish the VAT on exploration services (like drilling & assaying) to encourage more exploration.
Policy 17
We will establish, in collaboration with the private sector, a Minerals Development Bank to support the mining industry.
Policy 18
We will establish (through the private sector) a London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) certified gold refinery in Ghana within four years.
Policy 19
All responsibly mined small scale gold produced will be sold to the central bank, PMMC or MIIF and will be required to be refined before export.
