The case of illegal mining operations

Small-scale mining provides a livelihood for about 300,000 inhabitants in the country’s mining communities. Actually all the multinational gold mines in the country are challenged by the presence of such small-scale miners, known as galamsey, on or around their mining concessions. Ekow Essabra-Mensah, Mining and Metals correspondent looks at the implications on the industry.

There is no reliable statistical data on illegal mining, it is believed that these activities have significant impact on the mainstream mining operations.

Small-scale miners are required by law to be registered in order to work on concession to which they have legal access, and are subject to regulation by either the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) or the Ghana Minerals Commission, or both. Mining without such registration and regulation is illegal but unfortunately widespread in Ghana.

Until recently, there are still ambiguities from the government, as well as from the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), politicians, and local societies in defining and taking position toward these activities. Small-scale mining in the country has been a practice for a very long time.

Because they are unregulated and operate outside the law, illegal miners often cause major environmental damage, use mercury for processing and do not conduct reclamation of trenches and pits.

Communities, though they sometimes appreciate the cash flow that illegal mining can bring, generally find that it also bring increased levels of social and medical ills, and disrespect for the rule of law.

Some school of thought recognised that illegal mining provides livelihood opportunities for poor people, and therefore must be approached as a developmental issue, not only a security problem. This is the challenge that all stakeholders in the country’s mining sector, the government and civil society face.

These activities have not only breed problems of social, economic, and environmental; they also absorb more employment than any formal mining sector and reach those who live at the lower end.

Illegal Miners, Who are they?
The mining activity conducted by the locals in small-scale or in collective with simple tools from their own income.It has also been defined as mining business that is conducted by personal, group of people, or company/foundation which has legal entity which in their operation do not have permit from government institutions according to the law.However, due to processing difficulties mainly long, slow, and complicated bureaucratic red tapes these miners are reluctant to obtain the permit. Thus, they have automatically fallen into the illegal mining category.
Industry term, these miners are often called ‘Galamsey’ operators.

The case of small scale mining operators
Galamsey is acknowledged to contribute to poverty alleviation, particularly in the rural areas where employment opportunities are rare.
It is seen as a vibrant and significant subsector of the mining industry in the country, accounting for about 10 per cent of total annual gold output and over 60 per cent of total annual diamond output.

These activities have not only breed problems of social, economic, and environmental; they also absorb more employment than any formal mining sector and reach those who live at the lower end.

Although total employment figures for the subsector are far from accurate, the sector is estimated to employ between 100,000 and 300,000 people, mostly unskilled rural labour.

The Small-Scale Mining Regulations, which are now incorporated into the new Mining Act, impose limitations and curtail the property rights of operators, and thus affecting the security of their lease property concession.

Studies have observed contentious issues pertaining to the operations of small-scale miners and land use conflicts which require urgent attention from regulatory authorities. These issues include:
the relationship between small-scale miners and multinational mining firms
land poverty within the sector
the role of traditional authorities
lack of adequate institutional support
limited opportunities for capital
forest reserve encroachment.

The overwhelming conclusion has been that these issues are deeply rooted in the social and economic circumstances of the small-scale mining sector and have serious implications for livelihoods.

The relationship between small-scale miners and large mining firms may at times be one of conflict, because the latter perceive the former as a threat.

This is neither surprising, given the clash of interests between the two groups in relation to mining rights, nor an exclusively Ghanaian phenomenon, as conflicts between large mining firms and small-scale miners exist all over the world.

conflicts centre on the issue of access to land for mining purposes. For example, almost all lands in areas like Adansi and Wassa West districts are either in the hands of large-scale miners or have been designated as forest reserves.

As a result, the mining activities are carried out either on the concessions of large-scale mining companies or in forest reserves.

Hence the widespread conflicts between the large-scale and small-scale miners, especially the unregistered ones.

Intensity of ‘Galamsey’ operation on the industry
Illegal mining ‘galamsey’ issues seemed nowhere to end. Besides the punishments are too light, the government has never been strict in coping with illegal mining activities.

Of those numerous cases of arrest and equipment confiscation by the police, only few were actually sent for trial.

There has been overlapping authorities and conflict of interests between departments or even between the central and local government in dealing with illegal mining problems.
Environmental NGOs often accuse the government of double standards that it only want to curb illegal miners operating within big mining companies’ concession areas, such as in Bogoso/Prestea gold mine in the Western Region.

The existing regulatory and institutional framework is clearly deficient in its capacity to increase the contribution of ‘galamsey’ mining to livelihoods.

The regulations have a heavy impact on property rights and raise the costs of doing business within the sector, discouraging long-term investment of financial and technical resources by small-scale miners and their financiers.

This directly affects decent and dignified job creation and income levels within the sector, because investors generally take a short-term view of their investment activity.

Legalisation of small-scale mining was and remains a laudable policy objective. Yet merely legalising the activity without adequately capturing its fast-evolving and complex social dynamics may prevent the attainment of other social objectives, such as enhancing the potential of the sector to contribute to better livelihoods and poverty alleviation.

The capacity of regulatory institutions to monitor the legalised activity effectively and to punish noncompliance is critical not only to the realisation of the explicit regulatory objective, but also to the attainment of broader social goals such as wealth generation, job creation and growth in incomes.

Position of some multinational mining firms
Golden Star Resources Bogoso/Prestea mine

Officials of the Golden Star Resources say they continue to experience illegal mining activity on its mining and exploration properties with most of this activity on its Prestea South and Hwini-Butre properties.

The impact of their activity on the mineral reseves and non-reserves, the presence of galamsey miners can lead to project delays and dispute as well as delays regarding the development or operations of commercial gold deposits.

The work performed by the illegal miners could cause environmental damage or other damage to properties, or personal injury or death, for which we could potentially be held responsible.
Illegal miners may work on other properties from time to time, and they may in the future increase their presence and have increased negative impacts such as those described above on such other properties.

The Experience of the Wassa Mine
Golden Star Resources Wassa Mines subsidiary, upon its intense dealings with the operators of illegal miners ceded part of its concession around the Subri Akyempim area in the Western region. This is after years of battling illegal mining operation in and around the concession.The management indicated that the peaceful co-existence should eliminate the threat illegal mining poses to the operations of mining companies. “We are still responsible for all the environmental issues, we still report to the Minerals Commission and we are responsible for the safety on our sites,” General Manager at the Wassa mines of the company, Micheal Mracek said.

Newmont Mines’ position

Newmont Ghana Limited does not condone or support, and indeed we oppose, any mining activity that is not carried out pursuant to the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (or prior law) and other relevant laws of the country both because it is illegal and because it may adversely affect the health and safety of communities and their inhabitants and the environment.
It is the proper role of the government to manage illegal activity.

In fulfilling of this responsibility government and stakeholders are developing strategies to evict illegal miners from areas where they are carrying on such activity.
Newmont says it understands that government has recently launched a national campaign to do this. The government clearly has the responsibility of maintaining law, order and security for its citizens.

Newmont, as a signatory with other companies to the Iternational Voluntary Principles on Human Rights and Security, has an interest in encouraging governments to act in such matters with due regard for, and consistent with, the protection and promotion of human rights.
While public security forces may well endeavor to evict illegal miners in a manner consistent with local and national laws as well as with human rights standards and international humanitarian law, a substantial risk nevertheless exists that harm to individuals, however inadvertent, may result from such activity.

Newmont is a member of the Ghana Chamber of Mines. The Chamber is putting together an industry-wide program to fund, among other things, efforts to promote responsible mining among small-scale miners and to mitigate the negative impacts of illegal mining.
Newmont supports this program, particularly aspects relating to education, sensitization, retraining, raising community awareness, environmental management and rehabilitation practices. These are all critical to the long term resolution of the problem of illegal mining.
Newmont Ghana is also part of a group of companies including AngloGold Ashanti, Goldfields Ghana and Golden Star, who along with the International Council on Mining and Metals, the Ghana Minerals Commission and the Ghana Chamber of Mines is exploring alternative approaches to illegal, small-scale miners and their impacts.

Gold Fields Ghana and Galamsey

In the mid-1990s Gold Fields Ghana Limited began to set aside areas for the local miners and gradually confined them to these locations. Over time, continued stakeholder engagement efforts have borne some fruit.

A management committee with representatives from all stakeholder groups began issuing short-term licences to galamsey operators to dig on segments of the company’s lease area until the mine needed them.

The mine provided expertise to improve the technical skills and safety record of the 600-odd galamsey operating under this scheme. Critical to the building of trust was that the company stopped calling in the police and instead began negotiating with the galamsey operators to persuade them to leave the sites. Over the years further trust was built through company provision of water pumps and mercury retorts, which improved safety and gold recovery and reduced the environmental damage. During 2005 and 2006, Gold Fields Damang mine, a shallow multi-pit open-cast operation, managed to relocate successive small groups of artisanal miners from areas earmarked for open pit mining in what the company calls an “amicable manner”.Today, mining companies continue to search for ways of reducing the negative impacts of galamsey mining without, in the process, further encouraging the growth of such operations on mine leases. Government seems to be unwilling to call in the police to protect the interests of its major taxpayers against a potentially large group of voters, this pragmatic approach may be the way forward. Both AshantiAngloGold and Gold Fields Ghana are looking into funding the establishment of larger agricultural ventures often on rehabilitated mining land. Perhaps the galamsey will come to see the opportunities created by such ventures as viable alternatives to mining.

Impact on Society and Community
Mining activities, particularly surface mining, have resulted in the hostility of large tracts of land from communities, depriving poor and marginalised communities of their land surface rights, and as a result depriving many communities of their sources of livelihood.

The appropriation of the land of local communities for mining has often engendered social upheavals and adversely impacted on the routine livelihood activities of these communities.

Such social upheavals are commonplace in communities affected by mining projects in the country.

The growing incidence of conflict between mining communities and their chiefs on one hand, and the mining companies on the other hand, echoes the growing concerns about the effects of the mining sector.
Government and Stakeholders must act now

Stakeholders have urged government security apparatus such as the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Ghana Police Service to intensify their protection and monitoring mechanism on the mining lease site belonging to the multinational firms to minimise the impact of the ‘galamsey’ operations and their activities on the mineral reserves which has the potential of increasing the nations revenue and improving the economy.

Multinational mining companies as a matter of urgency need to improve on their corporate social responsibility programmes in the communities in which they operate. Their activities need to be visible and dignified to the appreciation of the inhabitants.

Minerals Commission and the Chamber of Mines need to be proactive in developing achievable strategies and policies for the operators of the giant mining firms to direct their social programmes towards developing the indigenes to guarantee the future of the youth and the growing generation in the community.

It is a call on the Ministry of Land and Forestry, Local Government and Rural Development and the Attorney Generals Department to collaborate to ensure total eradication of the activities of the galamsey operators and institute enforceable punishment to deter perpetrators of the ancient illegal mining activities which is affecting the growth of the buoyant mining industry in Ghana.