Mines chamber hopeful of gov’t plans

The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Mines, Mr. Sulemanu Koney is hopeful of government plans to diversify the economy away from the dependence on primary exports for industrial development on the back of the minerals and mining industry.

“I am hopeful that the President's resolve to diversify the economy away from the dependence on primary exports for industrial development will soon be realised on the back of the minerals and mining industry.

“Government and other state advocates of mining, such as the minerals commission, must pursue deliberate, systematic and aggressive policies to channel Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into non -gold minerals. Aside from insulating the country against external shocks in the event of a decline in prices of any metal, a diversified minerals sector provides a sustainable basis for economic growth," he noted.

Mr. Koney was speaking at a workshop on Ghana's Mining Sector organised for members of the parliamentary press corps in Accra, themed ‘Reporting on the Minerals Sector; What the Reporter Needs’.

He stressed the need to diversify the country’s minerals portfolio on account of the proven reserves of kaoline, limestone, salt, marble, iron-ore and other sought-after base minerals.

The Chamber of Mines, he said, recognizes the efforts of regulators in redefining their engagement with the industry: “it commits to work collaboratively to improve upon its turnaround time”.

Mr. Koney asked government to seriously work to ensure the ratification of minerals rights in the country as required by law, and said that failure to do this will not speak well of the country -- giving the impression that companies are operating illegally.

“As is well known, time is of the essence with regard to mining projects; and the industry reiterates its plea for governance issues which are entirely out of the hands of mining companies to be handled expeditiously by the aforementioned arms of government,” he said.

He encouraged regulators in the industry to endeavour to create an enabling environment to support activities of the mining companies, expressing worry over the long lead-times in the issuance of permits and licences: “Such delays drag the commencement of key projects and hurts the cash flow of mining companies, as well as significantly defers the receipt of fiscal revenue by the state”.

Mr. Simon Atebiya, Technical Director at the Ministry of land Natural Resource, in a presentation on “background, government policies and current status of the mining industry in Ghana”, observed that the country has over 20 years of stable multi-party democracy that has attracted into the country significant mining investment.

The sector has great capacity when it is integrated into the economy, which can be achieved through several channels -- including additional fiscal revenues from mining-related activities; employment generated by these activities; inputs provision for other sectors; research and development activities; and technology.

He observed that major challenges confronting the sector include inadequate linkages between the mining sector and the rest of the economy and poor diversification of the sector, which is concentrated on gold.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Dr. Toni Aubynn, urged District Assemblies to do well to stop illegal mining and stop blaming the Commission for not stopping illegal mining in their districts.