The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah (MP), has warned that all small-scale mining license holders who fail to prove their legitimacy by 5:00pm on 1st September 2025 will have their licenses permanently revoked.

The directive from the Minister follows a review of licenses conducted by a special committee tasked with auditing existing small-scale mining licenses.

In the rigorous exercise, a total of 1,278 licenses were reviewed, out of which 316 were found to be clear of any irregularities.

The remaining 962, however, were fraught with various irregularities, out of which 55 were revoked earlier this year.

Following a plea for extension of the initial deadline, by the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners (GNASSM), the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources obliged and extended the deadline to the end of August 2025.

With the expiration of the ultimatum drawing close, the Minister has indicated that all licenses that remain defective by 5pm on 1st September 2025 will be permanently revoked.

This was contained in a statement issued by the License Review Committee of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.

“Affected license holders are therefore reminded to submit any documentation to prove the legitimacy of their small-scale mining licenses to the Ministry on or before 17:00 hrs., 1 September 2025. Failure to do so will result in the revocation of their license by the Honourable Minister,” portions of the statement stressed.

The license review and revocation are part of efforts by the Ministry to sanitize the mining space and combat the menace of illegal mining.

Meanwhile, a robust review of large-scale mining licenses is expected to begin as part of comprehensive efforts by the Ministry to enforce compliance with mining laws and regulations.