Mining

THE Ghana Chamber of Mines has appealed to the government to increase the quantum of royalties returned to mining communities from the current nine per cent to 30 per cent.
The Chief Executive Officer of the chamber, Ms Joyce Aryee, who made the appeal, expressed the hope that the royalties when increased would be tied to providing specific infrastructural projects that would stimulate development in the communities.
At the opening of the 2009 Exhibition and Networking Forum in Accra yesterday, Ms Aryee said the Chamber would continue to push for the integration of the industry into the local economy, champion the attraction of Ghanaian investors into mining and encourage the government to mainstream mining as a catalyst for development.
The three-day forum is being organised by the Ghana Chamber of Mines on the theme, “Mining and sustainable development: Meeting inter-generational challenges".
She said the mining sector in 2008 returned $2.30 billion representing 63 per cent of mineral revenue through the Bank of Ghana and commercial banks in the country.
She added that out of that, six per cent was paid to the government both at the national and district levels in the form of royalties and tax and 10 per cent to the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for electric power purchases.
She explained further that 13 per cent was also paid to local oil marketing companies for diesel fuel purchases and another four per cent of the mineral revenue was paid as taxes, levies and duties on fuel products to the government.
Ms Aryee said the mining industry had been consciously increasing the quantum of local inputs in its operations for sometime now and added that last year mineral-producing member companies of the chamber procured 47 per cent of inputs and 71 per cent of consumables locally.
She indicated that the promotion of local content in the Chamber’s operations was not just a social responsibility activity, but rather a direct response to Section 105 of the Minerals and Mining Law 2006, Act 703.
The Act states that "The holder of a mineral right shall in the conduct of mineral operations and in the purchase, construction and installation of facilities give preference to materials and products made in Ghana."
The law further states that the holder of a mineral right shall, in phases of its operations, give preference in employment to citizens to the maximum extent possible and consistent with safety and economy.
Ms Aryee emphasised that the Chamber did not condone unregulated mining in the country and would not assist persons engaged in the act.
She stated that the Chamber actively supported regulated and formalised small-scale mining sectors in the country.
She said the Chamber was currently undertaking advocacy on small-scale mining with the view of enhancing the understanding of the needs of the sector and also to inform strategy formulation to resolve challenges of the small-scale miner.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, said the intergenerational challenges facing the mining sector in the country needed to be addressed to ensure sustainable development of the sector.
She said in order to address these challenges there was the need for all stakeholders to help identify and address the challenges facing all operations in the sector.
She also called for the development of a comprehensive local content framework for the mining sector in order to reduce conflicts, tension and dissatisfaction.
The minister encouraged investors to enter into the production of mining implements locally and adhere to the policy of introducing local contents into the industry.
She advised mining industries to set up oil palm and bamboo plantations to replace the lost forest.
The three-day exhibition includes a "buyers and sellers", forum, which is designed to bring together mining companies as buyers of goods and services and local companies as sellers.