Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has declared that, the renewal of mining lease agreements would not be automatic but rather based on the fulfilments of commitments made by firms.
He made the declaration as parliament on Thursday July 24, 2025 ratified a one-year extended Mining Lease Agreement between the Government of Ghana and Aboso Goldfields Limited, a subsidiary of Gold Fields Limited, for gold mining operations at the Damang Mine, located on a 52.39-square-kilometre concession in the Wassa West District of the Western Region.
The new lease extension will run until April 2026.
The government, rejected a request by Gold Fields Limited to extend the lease for an additional 30 years, following the expiration of the company’s initial 30-year lease on April 18, 2025.
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources cited several reasons for the decision, including the company’s failure to declare verifiable mineral reserves and the lack of a detailed technical programme outlining both past activities over the previous three decades and future operational plans. Regulation 189 of the Minerals and Mining (Licensing) Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2176), mandates that such renewal applications must include a comprehensive technical report and a programme of mining operations.
Following negotiations, the government and the company reached an amicable agreement on a transitional one-year lease to ensure uninterrupted operations at the mine.
The arrangement aims to protect jobs, allow for further feasibility studies to determine the viability of remaining mineral reserves, and support the pathway toward long-term Ghanaian ownership of the mine.
Addressing Parliament prior to the ratification, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, stated emphatically that mining lease renewals going forward would not be automatic.
“Rt Hon Speaker, thank you and I support and urge members to ratify this mining lease for Goldfields. I think that, what has been set here is that, it is now clear with the precedence with Goldfields that, it is not going to be automatic for mining companies, after the end of their lease period, to expect automatic renewals. And that, we would subject them to the commitments that they make.
And that is the message that we gave Goldfields. and am very happy the committee noted specifically that at the end of the lease, which is around April 2026, this lease would not revert back to them, it would be revert back to the state, for the state to decide the direction it would go. And I believe we should hold other mining companies accountable to the commitments that they make, and that lease renewals would not be automatic. On that note, I urge members to ratify it”, the Minister stated.
The Minister urged Members of Parliament to ratify the transitional lease and underscored the government’s commitment to ensuring that mining operations in Ghana serve the long-term interests of the nation and its people.
