Lands Minister John Peter Amewu says he will recommend to Cabinet for the nine-month-old ban on small-scale mining to be lifted in January 2018.

But this will depend on the level of cleanliness of the river bodies, validation of licenses and the commitment of miners towards land reclamation.

Mr Amewu admitted the ban has made life difficult for the people whose livelihood depends on the trade but he said it was necessary.

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He told Raymond Acquah on Upfront on Joy News channel on MultiTV Thursday the government will only sanction mining that is sustainable.

There has been a ban on small-scale mining since February in an attempt to crackdown on illegal mining localised as galamsey.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has repeatedly said he will not tolerate the destruction of water bodies and forest reserves.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

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There was a six-month ban on the trade, which elapsed in October, but it was extended by three months.

Mr Amewu said the Anti-galamsey Taskforce will audit the sector at the end of January 2018 in order to find out the gains made.

Illegal mining is estimated to have robbed the country the sum of $2.3billion in 2016 alone.

But it is a sector the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) will protect because of its prospects, Mr Amewu said.

In 2015, small-scale mining contributed about 34 percent of the revenue output from gold. “Cumulatively their output is quite large,” the Lands Minister said.

But small-scale miners will be made to sign a "Reclamation Bond" if the ban is to be lifted, Mr Amewu added.