The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi, has defended his position on unlicensed artisanal and small-scale mining, insisting that mining operations that do not threaten water bodies, forest reserves or public health should be considered for formalisation rather than subjected to military crackdowns. His clarification follows reports suggesting that he endorsed mining without a licence, which he says were based on a selectively edited video that omitted key parts of his explanation.
Read his full explanation below:
LAWYER SAMMY GYAMFI WRITES:
There are three (3) forms of unlicensed artisanal and small-scale mining operations that are irredeemably wrong and can neither be tolerated nor reformed.
- Mining that impacts water bodies
- Mining in forest reserves
- Mining in obscene places in communities such as road sides, school lands, bedrooms etc. that pose dangers to society and public health
- Once artisanal and small-scale miners (ASMs) are not mining in a forest reserve, a water body or an obscene place that negatively impacts the environment, that mineralized area, even if unlicensed, meets the eligibility requirement of FORMALIZATION and can be declared as fit for cooperative mining under government’s “Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP). I maintain that formalizing such unlicensed ASMs is a better approach than chasing them with soldiers. The rCOMSDEP is an ASM formalization initiative aimed at transforming such unlicensed ASMs into licensed and responsible ASMs to promote sustainability in the sector.
- The small portion of the video that has been mischievously cut and is being circulated, leaves out important details of my explanation of what government is willing to do to support the formalization of such unlicensed ASMs to ensure that they have the appropriate legal documentation, certifications, permits and training for sustainable small-scale mining.
- ASM formalization and traceability is the new paradigm shift of Ghana’s quest towards sustainability in the ASM sector. The provision of formalization, training and financing support for ASMs whose activities do not negatively impact water bodies, forest reserves or obscene places in our communities to bring them into the formal and responsible mining economy, is a crucial imperative for the fight against irresponsible mining and our national quest to promote sustainability in the mining sector.
- As I noted in my keynote address at the just-ended Mining in Motion summit on “ASM Formalization; the new paradigm”;
“…….regulation must be firm, but also practical, inclusive and commercially sound. Reform will endure only when compliance becomes a pathway to opportunity rather than hardships. Mining regulations must therefore do more than police miners; it must formalize, build capacities and create opportunities for young Africans in the mining and trading ecosystem. I believe that with proper formalization, financing support and training, Artisanal and Small-scale mining can support livelihoods, generate foreign exchange, strengthen reserves, grow indigenous enterprise and advance national development sustainably.” “We at the GoldBod hold the view, that properly organized small-scale mining offers one of the clearest pathways from mineral ownership in law to indigenous ownership in practice. Supported by modern technology and sound engineering, the sector can optimize recovery rates, reduce waste, improve safety, preserve the environment and create productive opportunities for young Africans.”
“This is why the GoldBod will next year roll out an ASM Formalization and Financing Support Program (FFSP), in close collaboration with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the University of Mines and Technology and Rand Refinery, with the aim of sustainably ramping up gold production, mineral revenue and job creation, while reducing operational costs and environmental risks.”
