Mining Engineer and Mineral Economics Consultant, Dr. Solomon Owusu, has insisted that the Minerals Commission will never issue licences for mining in rivers, saying that such activities are illegal and a major threat to Ghana’s environment and water supply.

Speaking on Prime Insight on JoyNews on Saturday, September 13, Dr. Owusu identified what he called the “three main problems” linked to small-scale mining in the country.

According to him, “The polluted water from the mining sites, the polluted water from the rivers where people are mining illegally, and the unreclaimed lands” remain the most pressing issues.

He explained that both licensed and unlicensed small-scale miners use the same damaging methods, which worsen pollution.

“As of today, both the licensed small-scale mining guys and the unlicensed small-scale mining guys use the same method and they don’t control the wastewater,” he noted.

“After washing the soil or rocks, they don’t contain the water; they don’t treat it before discharging it through the streams to join the river.”

Dr. Owusu said that mining directly in rivers, often referred to as dredging, is unlawful.
“The law says that you can’t mine on any river body. You can’t even mine 100 metres from a river body,” he said.

“The Minerals Commission will never give or offer a licence to somebody to go and mine in the rivers. No, it’s against the law. So anybody mining on the river is an illegal miner.”

He criticised both the past and present governments for failing to properly deal with the menace. He argued that the Akufo-Addo administration had eight years but achieved “nothing,” while the Mahama government, though only in office for eight months, must prove it will act differently.

“The previous government didn’t listen,” Dr. Owusu explained. “Some of us as technocrats in the field tried, but it became a whole lot of issues. This new government has started something and they are willing to listen. The president himself has conceded that the method they will implement for miners to mine responsibly is not yet in place.”

He urged patience as President Mahama’s administration develops its response to the issue.
“Let’s give President Mahama some time and see if he will do something different from what the NPP did,” Dr. Owusu said.