The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources says it is set to revoke the licenses of some large-scale mining companies due to regulatory breaches.
This decision has been informed by a rigorous review of large-scale mining operations, which is currently ongoing by a special committee tasked with that purpose.
At the behest of the Minister, Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah (MP), the committee has announced the list of the first 50 affected companies with breaches such as holding leases without operating Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) or Water Resources Commission (WRC) permits.
This move forms part of the government’s multi-pronged strategy to deal with illegalities plaguing the mining sector.
The review exercise is designed to ensure that mining at all levels is done with recourse to appropriate protocols and due procedures, in line with the government’s vision of upholding safe, responsible and sustainable mining.
This exercise follows a similar one conducted for small-scale mining licenses and is now being replicated for the large-scale sector to ensure a holistic sanitization of the sector.
Meanwhile, the Ministry had earlier revoked some 278 small-scale mining licenses over various breaches.
The Ministry says it will continue with more of such exercises in the discharge of its regulatory oversight.