Seven out of the 15 Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) in Ghana’s Upper East Region are endowed with significant gold deposits, prompting calls from small-scale miners for the Minerals Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to allocate concessions for their operations.
The gold-rich MDAs include Builsa North, Kassena Nankana, and Bolgatanga municipalities, as well as the Bongo, Talensi, Nabdam, and Bawku West districts. However, only Talensi District currently hosts large-scale mining operations, with Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited and Cardinal Namdini Mining Limited holding mining leases and actively extracting gold.
Regional Minister Donatus Akamugri Atanga revealed these details while addressing the media, noting growing concerns among small-scale miners about their exclusion from legally sanctioned mining activities.
At a regional forum in Bolgatanga, held in anticipation of the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board, small-scale miners reiterated their demand for government intervention to release concessions. The Regional Chairman of the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners (GNASSM), Yaw Mort, emphasised that licensing small-scale miners would support the government’s efforts to stabilise the national currency and strengthen Ghana’s foreign reserves through enhanced gold production.
In response, the acting Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Sammy Gyamfi, assured that the government, in collaboration with relevant agencies and ministries, would take measures to make concessions available to small-scale miners, ultimately boosting gold output in the country.
