Samuel Abu Jinapor, the minister of lands and natural resources, has reaffirmed the government's commitment to battling "galamsey," or illicit mining.
According to him, the government opposed reckless mining that harmed the environment rather than small-scale mining.
"Our efforts, which are necessary to stop galamsey, have occasionally been interpreted as the President Akufo-Addo administration being opposed to small-scale mining," he stated.
Yesterday at Fiapre, close to Sunyani in the Bono Region, Mr. Jinapor gave a speech at the opening ceremony of a two-day transformational dialogue on small-scale mining held by the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR).
Instead, he said that President Akufo-Addo's dedication to promoting ethical small-scale mining was evidenced by the decline in 2015, which saw the reduction of the withholding tax on raw gold by small-scale miners from 3% to 1.5%.
The dialogue, with the theme "Sustaining Environmental Security and Human Rights in Small-Scale Mining Operation in Ghana," aims to provide a distinctive forum for in-depth discussions on one of the most urgent issues regarding the sustainable exploitation of natural resources, not only in our nation but also around the world.
Participants included, among others, members of the Regional House of Chiefs, the Association of Women in Mining in Africa and Ghana, the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners, large-scale mining businesses, students, and civil society groups.
under a lot of pressure
According to Mr. Jinapor, the world's natural resources have been severely depleted in recent years.
Stress brought on by the modern affluent lifestyle's high demand for raw materials, fast urbanization and population expansion, rising agricultural productivity, and climate change
In addition, he noted that the rising demand for resources had worsened the pressure on those resources, creating a vicious cycle between climate change and resources. He noted that the demand for raw materials had doubled globally in the previous 20 years.
According to Mr. Jinapor, governments all over the world are altering their policies to deal with recent developments and enhance the sustainability of the environment.
Economy
The minister stated that mining remained the foundation of the national economy, although small-scale mining remained prohibited for a long time.
He said that since being formalized, the small-scale mining industry's contribution to the national economy has increased, reaching more than 40% in 2018.
"For instance, the industry produced 712,405 ounces of gold in total last year, earning close to $1.2 billion in export revenues.
All of the diamonds produced in the nation now come from small-scale mining, which in 2022 generated 82,251.99 carats of diamonds, according to him.
Apart from their contribution to the production of gold and diamonds, Mr. Jinapor claimed that the industry supported the lives and livelihoods of millions of individuals and provided work for thousands of people.
However, he raised alarm about the sector's rising illegalities, noting that their impact on the environment has, regrettably, led to small-scale mining.
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