By Emmanuel Gamson
Takoradi, Oct. 05, GNA – A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working in the area of fisheries and marine ecosystems, has petitioned the government to review and clarify legal agreements permitting GoldCoast Resource Corp to undertake offshore gold reconnaissance activities along Ghana’s inshore waters.
In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the Coalition said it had taken note of reports that the GoldCoast Resource Corp. Held ten offshore reconnaissance licences covering approximately 10,000 square kilometres, extending along about 300 kilometres of Ghana’s coastline between Half Assini in the Western, and Winneba in the Central regions, and reaching about 33 kilometres offshore.
It said though they did not oppose responsible investment or the lawful use of Ghana’s natural resources, their concern was that decisions affecting the ocean space must protect fisheries, biodiversity, food security, human rights, and coastal livelihoods.
According to the Coalition, the company’s published map indicated that substantial portions of its licensed area fell within Ghana’s Inshore Exclusion Zone (IEZ), which the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act, 2025 (Act 1146) defined as the coastal waters between the coastline and 12 nautical miles offshore.
It said: “Company disclosures indicate that approximately 50,000 line-kilometres of airborne magnetic data have already been collected across 100 per cent of the licensed area, with more detailed work focused on a 500 square kilometres priority area encompassing the mouth of the Ankobra River.
“The stated forward programme includes marine bathymetric and seismic surveys, followed by vibro-core drilling and bulk seabed sampling, but the company acknowledges that no mineral resource or reserve, or economic viability, has yet been established.”
The Coalition noted that Ghana, therefore, still had an important opportunity to determine the legal, environmental, and social implications before authorising any further phase.
It called on the government to clarify the legal position, stating that Section 32(3) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended, prohibited the holder of a reconnaissance licence from drilling or excavating.
“More fundamentally, section 99(6) of Act 703, as amended, makes it an offence to use a floating platform or other equipment for mining or dredging to obtain minerals in Ghana’s natural water bodies, including the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf,” it added.
It said Ghana’s expanded IEZ, the Marine Fisheries Management Plan, and the recently declared Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Greater Cape Three Points enclave were important national commitments that should be considered together with any mineral decisions affecting the same waters.
The Coalition said: “Taken together, the scale of the licences permitting GoldCoast Resource Corp.’s exclusive right to conduct offshore reconnaissance activities, their proximity to the coast, their intersection with the extended IEZ, the centrality of artisanal fisheries, the unresolved legal questions, and the proposed progression to intrusive seabed activity require that the facts and safeguards be established before the programme advances.”
It, therefore, called on the government to among other things publish the official coordinates, licence instruments, conditions and approved work programmes for all ten offshore reconnaissance licences.
It also urged the government to commission and publish an independent spatial overlay showing the licences in relation to the 12 nautical mile IEZ, the Greater Cape Three Points MPA, key fishing grounds, spawning and nursery areas, and other sensitive marine habitats.
“Government must also determine transparently whether the existing licences should continue unchanged, be modified to exclude sensitive areas, or be cancelled where applicable legal grounds and evidence warrant such action,” it added.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga /Kenneth Odeng Adade
5 Oct 2026
Reporter: Emmanuel Gamson