The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has issued a stern warning to 962 small-scale mining licence holders, threatening to revoke their permits if identified irregularities are not resolved within two weeks.
Lands Minister, Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah, announced the ultimatum after receiving a report from a ministerial committee tasked with reviewing the status of small-scale mining licences across the country.
The report was formally presented to the Minister on Monday, 21st July 2025, at the Ministry’s headquarters in Accra.
According to Paa Kwesi Schandorf, Media Relations Officer at the Ministry, the committee’s review covered a total of 1,278 licences.
Of these, 316 were deemed to be in good standing, while the remaining 962 were found to have serious irregularities.
“These issues include documentation gaps, process anomalies, and data inconsistencies,” Mr Schandorf said.
Reacting to the findings, Minister Armah Kofi-Buah warned that the 962 defective licences will be revoked permanently if the anomalies are not rectified by 4th August 2025.
“This is part of our ongoing efforts to clamp down on illegal mining activities and to preserve Ghana’s natural resources. We will not hesitate to revoke licences where the rules have been breached,” the Minister stated.
He further stressed that the Ministry is determined to clean up Ghana’s small-scale mining sector, vowing to introduce sweeping reforms to the licensing regime to ensure greater transparency and accountability.
“We are committed to sanitising the small-scale mining space, and this is only the beginning. Beyond small-scale mining, we will soon begin a review of large-scale mining licences as well to ensure compliance across the entire sector,” he added.
The Minister is expected to provide further details on this directive during the Government Accountability Series at the Jubilee House on Wednesday, 23rd July 2025.
The move is part of broader government efforts to tighten regulatory oversight and combat illegal mining, which has caused severe environmental damage in several parts of the country.
