Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has inaugurated a nine-member Small-Scale Mining License Review Committee, to conduct a comprehensive audit of all small-scale mining licenses.

The committee, chaired by Mr Sulemana Yusif, the Deputy Minister, Lands and Natural Resources, is mandated to scrutinise licenses to ensure compliance with legal, environmental, and financial regulations.

Key areas of the review include ensuring due processes in license acquisition, ensuring that they meet all conditions of continuous validity with respect to environmental standards (water bodies, forest reserves, and land preservation), as well as full payment of licensing permit fees.

During the inauguration ceremony, in Accra, the Minister emphasised the committee’s critical role in sanitising the small-scale mining sector and ensuring sustainable benefits for Ghana.

“Your work will expose irregularities in the licensing regime, help restore confidence and ensure optimum benefits from the sector,” indicating that he was open to reviewing the lead time of two months when required.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Yusif Sulemana, the Chairman of the Committee, assured the Minister of a rigorous and impartial review process within the two-month deadline.

“We recognise the trust placed in us and will ensure transparency to boost investor confidence,” he said, urging license holders to fully cooperate with the Committee to ensure a process.

Members of the committee include experts from the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation, Minerals Commission, Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Water Resources Commission, Forestry Commission, Office of the Attorney General, Association of Small-Scale Miners and Ghana Chamber of Mines.

The Committee is expected to submit its final report by June this year.

This marks a pivotal step in Ghana’s efforts to regulate small-scale mining and combat illegal operations.