Under Law 153 Mineral Rights can be granted in the following areas :

Reconnaissance Licence

A Reconnaissance Licence confers on the holder the right to search for a specific mineral (or commodity) within the licence area by geochemical and photo-geological surveys or other remote sensing techniques. Except as otherwise provided in the licence, it does not permit drilling, excavation or other sub-surface techniques.

The licence is normally granted for up to one year and may be renewed by the Minister from time to time for periods up to one year at a time upon application by the holder.

The application for renewal must be made at least three months before the expiration of the licence. There is no legal limitation as to the size of the area over which a reconnaissance licence may be granted.

Prospecting Licence

A Prospecting Licence gives the holder the exclusive right to search for specific minerals (or commodities) by the conduct of geological and geophysical investigations and to determine the extent and economic value of any deposit within the licence area. The initial grant of the licence is limited to three years and a maximum area of 150 km². These limits may, at the direction of the President of the Republic, be exceeded in any particular grant whenever the President considers it to be in the national interest so to do. A prospecting licence may be renewed for a maximum of two terms or for further periods of up to two years each. At each renewal, half the licence area is required to be shed off (relinquished) by the holder. If more than one prospecting licence is held, they may be treated as one area for purposes of shed-off.

Mining Lease

The grant of a Mining Lease gives the holder the right to mine, win or extract specified minerals (or commodities) within the lease area. The lease may be granted to the holder of a prospecting licence or any person who establishes to the satisfaction of the Minister that a mineral to which the lease relates exists in commercial quantities within the proposed lease area and can be mined at a profit. The lease is issued for up to thirty years subject to renewal for a further thirty-year term. The size of the area in respect of which a lease may be granted is limited to 50 km² for a single grant or 150 km² for aggregate grants.

These limits may be exceeded in particular cases at the direction of the President if it is in the national interest.

Restricted Licence or Lease for Building and Industrial Minerals

Mineral rights governing the exploration and exploitation of industrial minerals and building materials are granted through the issuance of a Restricted Licence or Lease. A Restricted Licence may be granted as in the case of other minerals for the different stages of mineral operations (that is, reconnaissance, prospecting and production) in the form of a Restricted Reconnaissance Licence, a Restricted Prospecting Licence or a Restricted Mining Lease. These licences are granted for a shorter duration, normally between three and five years, and over smaller areas of up to 10 km² maximum for a co-operative society of at least 10 members.

Mineral rights for building and industrial minerals are reserved for Ghanaian citizens except where an exemption is made by the Minister, on the advice of MINCOM, as being in the public interest.

A local authority, owner or lawful occupier of any land is permitted to prospect for and mine, on any land owned or occupied by him, any building or industrial mineral for use in building, road making or agricultural purposes.

Though Law 153 applies generally to building and industrial minerals, the Minister is empowered to modify the provisions of the law in relation to industrial minerals. This power has, however, not been exercised.