Ghana to crack down on foreigners engaged in illegal mining

Ghana comes next to South Africa in Africa in terms of gold deposits and also possesses good amounts of bauxite, diamonds and manganese.

Besides, it has a sizeable deposit of iron ore, limestone, kaolin, granite, salt and feldspar that are yet to be fully exploited.

The favorable investment climate in Ghana has attracted more local and foreign companies into mineral exploration and mining activities.

However, there is growing discontent over the influx of large- scale miners in what has historically been the preserve of Ghanaian small-scale miners.

According to Ghanaian laws, foreign companies are only allowed to work independently on large and open-pit mines.

The small-scale mining sector has been characterized by serious challenges such as human casualties, indiscriminate destruction of the environment, particularly farmlands and food crops, and flagrant pollution of water bodies.
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