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 | Website is part of the EU funded Mining Sector Support Programme to Ghana |
Minerals Commission
BACKGROUND
In the unpredictable and constantly changing world of mining. where long term, risky mining investment is becoming more and more rare and therefore mining investors are demanding greater security and return on their investments, while Governments are seeking increased revenues from investors, local communities are demanding more "social responsibility" from mining investors, and we all desire to have growth and development as well as natural environment that is as pleasant as possible:
VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT
VISION
The Commission would strive to make Ghana the leading destination of mining sector investment in Africa through creating a congenial atmosphere in which all stakeholders work as partners in a safe environment to achieve one common goal: sustainable development through mining.
MISSION
The Commission's primary responsibility is to foster the efficient and effective regulation and management of the utilization of Ghana's mineral resources. This we will accomplish through the development of a solidly knowledge-based, self-led organization, which recognizes that mining investment would take place and be sustained only if it is under Win-Win circustances.
Minerals Commission (Head Office)
NATIONAL MINING CONFERENCE ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN GHANA
In the wake of some conserns raised by some mining communities, NGO's and civil societies both local international, that mining has not benefited the communities in which these activities take place, the Minerals Commission and the Chamber of Mines jointly organized a conference on the the "CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN GHANA: EXTENDING THE FRONTIERS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT."
» National Mining Conference PDF-File, 2.7 MB
MINERAL POLICY AND FISCAL REGIME
MINERAL POLICY AND LEGISLATION
Development of the mining industry was an integral part of the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP). Under this programme, new legislation was promulgated, financial incentives were introduced, new state institutions were either set up or better resorced to carry out their functions, and divestiture of most state-owned mines was carried out.
POLICY INITIATIVES
Some of the most recent policy measures that Government is adopting are to ensure that mining contributes its quota to development of the country include:
A CASE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOOD PROJECT IN MINING COMMUNITIES IN GHANA.
Currently, ten (10) large scale mining companies are producing gold and other minerals in various communities in the country. Socio-economic conflicts usually arise as a result of land-use conflicts with other economic activities; land being the main source of livelihood for these communities. Though mining cannot employ every member of a mining community, the activity creates opportunity for the development of other economic activities or Alternative livelihoods. It is therefore necessary to develop Alternative Livelihood Projects (ALP) otherwise known as Local Economic Development Projects (LED). This will constitute an appropriate land use planning scheme to run parallel to mining to sustain the communities during and after cessation of mining. Such a scheme will prevent the experience of the past where mining communities are turned into “ghost towns” after mine closure.
PROMOTING COOPERATION BETWEEN SMALL AND LARGE SCALE
MINERS IN GHANA
Promoting cooperation between small and large-scale mining companies in Ghana have adopted proactive managment strategies in dealing with small scale galamsey miners who have encroached on their concessions.
This has been mainly achieved byceding portions of the concessioins held by the companies to the Minerals Commission of Ghana for licensing to the small-scale miners. This development has created an amicable relationship between the mining companies concerned and the galamsey miners in their host community.
Ghana’s small-scale gold and diamond industry
The small-scale gold and diamond mining industry in Ghana has existed for many centuries as an informal sector.
MINING AS AN AGENT FOR DEVELOPMENT THE ROLE OF THE STATE.
inerals are naturally occurring substances in the earth's crust which are used by mankind in various forms and ways: Indeed, man's existence on earth to a large extent is dependent on minerals. Minerals find their direct uses in a wide variety of areas ways ranging from chemical industry, manufacturing and other industrial uses and indirectly have a wide variety of uses including tradable commodities as financial instruments (e.g. Gold loans etc).
The Mining of these minerals therefore creates a chain reaction in other sectors of the economy and serves as an agent for development of a country's economy. From the beginning of the mining process, i.e. exploration to the mining and marketing of minerals, various economic activity processes take place, which impacts, on the economy of countries. In order to fully understand the mineral industry, it is essential to understand the mineral investment process.
MINING SECTOR SUPPORT PROGRAMME (MSSP)
In year 2001, SOFRECO, a French company, was contracted by the European Commission to study and establish a financing proposal and Tender dossiers for the SYSMIN programme in Ghana. This was after the Commission had accepted to support the mining sector of the country under the SYSMIN assistance programme.
The SYSMIN diagnosis revealed that though Ghana was rich it has limited resource base and the mining sector contributed only 3% to Gross Domestic Product. The sector depends on gold and thus the international gold price and mining has shifted from the traditional underground operations to large open-pit operations. The study also revealed that investment inflow into the sector is on the low side and some of the reasons attributed to this situation-included lack of investor confidence in African countries and
BUILDING ON SUCCESS
ACHIEVEMENTS
As a result of the strategies and policy measures adopted over the last few years, the mining industry has made the following modest gains.
News
GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS
GHANA falls within the Precambrian Guinea Shield of West Africa. The main Precambrian rock units in Ghana are the metamorphosed and folded Birimian, Tarkwaian and Dahomeyan Systems, the Togo Series and the Buem Formation. Intruded into the Birimian rocks are large masses of granite and granodiorite. The Precambrian rocks are overlain by Late Proterozoic to Paleozoic rocks of the Voltaian System, which consists of sandstones, mudstones, conglomerates, limestones and tillites.
» Read more...
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES UNEARTHED
GHANA lies along the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. It is a relatively flat country, more than half of its area is less than 200m above sea level, the highest hills rising to 880m (Mt Afadjato) in the Akwapim Togo Mountains in the Volta Region. Lake Volta, the world’s largest artificial lake, was created in 1964 by the construction of the Akosombo Dam to provide electrical energy for industrial and domestic uses. For most parts of the country, the climate is tropical with annual average temperatures ranging from 25 to 30oC. Except for the Western Region, the coastal areas are relatively dry, giving way inland to rain forest and eventually in the north to savannah. The rainy seasons are in March-July and September to October.
» Read more...
GOLD
Gold deposits are economically by far the most important mineral deposit type in Ghana. Past cumulated production is estimated to be in excess of 2000 Mt of gold. Five important types of gold mineralisation occur:
• Steeply dipping quartz vein with native gold in shear zones at Birimian belt/basin boundaries (eg Konongo, Ashanti and Prestea mines);
• Disseminated sulphide bodies, spatially though not necessarily genetically in association with the shear zones and quartz veins, with auriferous arsenopyrites as major host of gold (Obenemase, Ashanti, Bogosu and Prestea mines);
• Disseminated and stockwork mineralisation in late-kinematic ‘basin-type’ granitoids (eg Ayanfuri mines);
• Modified-paleoplacer-mineralisation in quartz pebble conglomerates of the Tarkwaian Group, carrying, besides gold, detrital and reconstituted magnetite and hematite (eg Tarkwa and Iduapriem mines);
• Alluvial gold concentrations in recent and sub-recent river gravels (eg Dunkwa and Bonte mines).
The major gold producing companies in Ghana are: Goldfields Ghana Ltd (Tarkwa and Damang mines); AngloGold Ashanti (Obuasi, Bibiani and Iduapriem mines); Golden Star Resources (Bogosu/Prestea and Akyempim mines); and recently Redback Mining Ltd (Chirano mine) and Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd (Ahafo mine). Newmont’s Akyem mine is expected to start production in 2007.
FISCAL REGIME / COMMERCIAL LAW
Ghanaian law is typical of that in former British territories although there have been additions since independence. In an effort to cover the whole industry, some of the provisions of the Minerals and Mining Act 2006, Act 703 relate to commercial aspects and incentives, which elsewhere would be covered by other legislation. Some significant aspects are:
• Expenditure on exploration and development may be capitalised in accordance with regulated amortisation provisions for tax relief;
• Capital allowances have been designed to shorten the pay-back period and include 75% write off of capital in the first year and 50% annually thereafter on a declining balance;
• Retention of a proportion of revenue in foreign currency account for use in acquiring essential equipment and spare parts required for mining operations which would otherwise not be readily available without the use of such earnings;
• Exemptions from import duties on imported plant and equipment.