The Minerals Commission has defended its decision to decline the renewal of the Damang Mining Lease for Gold Fields Ghana Limited.

JoyNews checks at the Commission indicate the mine failed to meet requirements for its lease to be extended.

Though the specifics for the refusal are yet to be made public, Section 44 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) gives explicit reason for the renewal of a mining lease.

Failure to fulfill the requirements of the Act could result in the government’s refusal to renew the mandate to the mine.

The rejection to renew the mining lease comes at a time when the 30-year mining lease which was granted by the Government of Ghana in April 1995, is due to expire on April 18, 2025.

A 2023 Annual Report of Gold Fields has revealed mining in Damang ended in 2023 after the Huni pits depletion.

In the report, the mine intended to process stockpiles until the end of 2025.

In the overview of the Minerals Resources and Mineral Reserves Supplement to the Integrated Annual Report 2023, it indicated, ”the Damang Reinvestment Project (DRP) is scheduled for depletion in 2025, with the last two years focused on processing stockpiles.”

The report further indicated, “All key exploration targets have been tested, and there is low potential for significant or large-scale discovery at Damang”.

Accordingly, no exploration activities are planned for 2024.

In the company’s 2024 report, it disclosed “ongoing processing of remaining SPs is not economic under conservative reserve gold pricing”.

An application by Gold Fields Limited to renew the Damang Mining Lease was declined by the government.

In a release on 12th April, 2025, Gold Fields has communicated its inability to continue operations in Damang following government’s failure to renew its mining lease.

It further indicates, “We have tabled further proposals with the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources of Ghana in an effort to resolve the current situation; however, in the interim, we must begin to comply with the expiry of our mining lease.”

The company has since initiated processes for a phased reduction in production, with steps being taken for a safe and orderly shutdown of current mining activities at Damang.