The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), in collaboration with the Northern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service, has raided major illegal mining camps threatening the life of the Black Volta River in the Savannah Region.

10 illegal miners have been arrested and heavy mining equipment, firearms and other logistics have been seized in the major anti-illegal mining operation conducted at Kpali, near Gbinyiri, in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region.

The Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District lies along the Black Volta corridor, an important water resource whose protection remains critical to communities and ecosystems within the area.

Illegal mining within the wider catchment threatens the river through land degradation, sediment-laden runoff, and the potential discharge of fuel, oil, and other pollutants associated with mining operations.

The joint Task Force encountered individuals actively engaged in mining and observed extensive environmental disturbance at Kpali.

The illegal mining here is within the wider catchment of the Black Volta, threatening the river through land degradation, sediment-laden runoff, and the potential discharge of fuel, oil, and other pollutants associated with mining operations.

A total of 10 suspects, three Chinese nationals and seven Ghanaians, comprising five males and two females — were arrested.

The operation also resulted in the seizure of two excavators, three excavator monitors, a Toyota Hilux, a fuel bowser containing diesel, a generator, batteries, communication equipment and other mining-related items.
Personnel also recovered three firearms, 25 live cartridges, nine communication radios and 12 mobile phones, as well as cash in Ghanaian and foreign currencies.

To further degrade the operators' capacity to resume mining, the Task Force destroyed 15 makeshift structures and a generator used at the site.

The suspects and relevant exhibits have been handed over to the Savannah Regional Police Command in Damongo for further investigation and appropriate legal action.

The excavators and other heavy equipment have been secured at designated holding sites.

NAIMOS says it considers protecting the Black Volta and its surrounding catchment an important part of the broader national effort to safeguard Ghana's water resources from the damaging effects of illegal mining