As part of its efforts to crack down on unlawful mining, the Minerals Commission will place tracking devices on 4,000 excavators and other pieces of earthmoving machinery.
Now, 75 excavators have tracking devices attached, and the commission's control centre is used to monitor their operations.
The gadgets would be deployed later this year, according to Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, who was addressing at a meet-the-press event in Accra yesterday.
According to him, the government's main goal is to make sure that no excavator is used to mine unlawfully or enters the concession that it has been contracted to manage.
In order to function as a situation room, the commission established the Mine Repository and Tracking Control Centre in December 2022.
The centre also tracks explosives-carrying vehicles, river wardens' speedboats, and quarries to figure out how much cargo each location exports.
In compliance with the Minerals and Mining (Mineral Operations - Tracking of Earthmoving and Mining Equipment) Regulations, 2020, the exercise was conducted (L.I. 2404).
Rationale
According to Mr. Jinapor, the commission is better equipped to bring on board 4,000 excavators and other earthmoving machinery before the end of the year after successfully tracking 75 excavators over the previous three months.
He said that one of the most efficient methods for stopping illicit mining and repositioning the small-scale mining industry as a sustainable source of employment for locals was the tracking of excavators.
According to the minister, the government's decision to lower the withholding tax on unprocessed gold mined by small-scale miners from three percent to one and a half percent in 2015 was consistent with that.
"As a result, the amount of gold exported from small-scale mining increased dramatically, rising from 3,429.91 kilogrammes (Kg) in 2021 to 22,158.25kg in 2022.
Although the government's anti-galamsey initiatives had some success, according to Mr. Jinapor, more needed to be done to stop the problem.
The minister stated that the commission has expanded the number of products on the local procurement list of goods and services designated for residents from 29 to 50 in terms of local content and participation.
The minister said, "We have also expanded the availability of financial, insurance, and reinsurance services designated for residents from 20% to a minimum of 60%.
According to him, residents' provision of such products and services would guarantee the country's yearly retention of $3 billion.
The minister said that talks with Rand Refinery of South Africa, a referee for the London Bullion Marketing Association (LBMA), were underway in order to get LBMA accreditation and make it easier to export and sell refined gold on the global market.
The ability to create gold tablets, engrave, and plate jewellery by the jewellery division of the Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation (PMMC) was mentioned as "a tremendous boost for their job," he continued.
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