The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has called for a fundamental rethink of the social licence for mining, arguing that Ghana’s mining industry must place young people at the centre of resource development and economic participation.

Speaking at the National Mining Dialogue, Mr Gyamfi said the growing disconnect between the wealth generated from mining communities and the limited economic opportunities available to their youth posed a serious threat to the sustainability of the sector.

“For me, the strongest reason to rethink the social licence is the youth question,” he said.

He said young people in mining communities often see wealth extracted from their lands without benefiting from decent work, skills development, ownership or meaningful economic opportunities.

“A social licence cannot survive where the youth believe mining has no place for them except as casual labourers and bystanders, while others see them as troublesome agitators,” Mr Gyamfi stressed.

The GoldBod CEO called for the social licence to be re-imagined as a development compact with young people through skills development, sustainable employment, local enterprise development and expanded opportunities around mining production and services.

He also urged stakeholders to treat mining communities as development partners and economic shareholders rather than merely sources of land for mineral extraction. “Mining communities must no longer be treated as land donors.

They are custodians of the resource and hence must be treated as development partners and economic shareholders,” he said.