By Godwill Arthur-Mensah
Accra, May 11, GNA – For Ghana to retain the chunk of her forex from the mining industry, it is imperative to raise the funds domestically through the Ghana Stock Exchange for investment in mining exploration.
Mr Martin Ayisi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission, said that would ensure that the benefits in terms of foreign exchange earnings from the mining sector were retained in the economy.
For instance, the three new mines yet to commence operations – Azuma Resources, Cardinal Resources,and Newmont were raising $1.8 billion outside to develop the new mines, he said
Whenever those mines started reaping the benefit in term of foreign exchange earnings, they would be repatriated outside at the detriment of the country’s currency.
Mr Ayisi gave the advice in Accra during a panel discussion of the natural resources’ stakeholders dialogue, organised by the Graphic Communications Group Limited and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
The two-day dialogue is on the theme: “Harnessing our Natural Resources Responsibly for our Sustainable Collective Good”.
Mr Ayisi, therefore, suggested that there should be a deliberate government policy for foreign mining firms to raise funds through the Ghana Stock Exchange for developing mining enclaves in the country.
He said the country must take value addition of mineral resources seriously because exporting them in their raw state had not earned any maximum profit.
He said he disagreed with the suggestion that small-scale mining should be banned outrightly and that the livelihoods of about three million Ghanaians depended on mining for survival.
“Mining is linked to crime because anytime there is a crackdown on miners by the security agencies in some mining communities the crime rate in those communities increases,” Mr Ayisi noted.
Mr Godwin Armah, the General Secretary, Small-Scale Miners Association, said mining had played a pivotal role in the country’s development efforts, especially in job creation and government revenue generation.
However, there should be a deliberate government policy on traceability of gold from the mine site to the market to minimise the illegal routes used for smuggling of gold outside, he said.
Professor Richard Kwasi Amankwah, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, said the University would, this year, begin a small-scale mining project.
He, thus, called for value addition to mining of lithium so that the country could maximise profit from its exploitation.
Mr Sulemana Koney, the CEO, Ghana Chamber of Mines, called for strict enforcement of the mining regulations to ensure sustainable utilisation of the country’s natural resources.
Earlier, Mr Ato Afful, the Managing Director, Graphic Communications Group Limited, in his welcome remarks, said the excessive, unrestrained, unbridled and unrepentant destruction of the natural resources had resulted in irreparable damage to the environment and sometimes loss of lives.
That required a collective responsibility under the ambit of government and the rule of law to protect and preserve the natural resources, he noted.
Mr Afful expressed the conviction that the multi-stakeholder dialogue would enable stakeholders to develop concrete and actionable measures to resolve the menace of illegal mining.
GNA