Ghana Minerals Commission calls on mining companies to deepen social bonding with communities

The Minerals Commission has called on mining companies operating in Ghana to deepen their social bonding with members of communities where they operate to mitigate social conflict that arises.

Speaking at the 85th Annual General Meeting of the Ghana Chamber of Mines in Accra, the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Minerals Commission, Mr Amponsah Tawiah said that, by deepening the social bonding with community members, mining companies will have a social license to operate harmoniously.

According to Tawiah, the Minerals Commission will continue to support and work together with the Chamber to implement policies that will enhance the industry thereby ensuring a win-win situation for  the host country and industry players.

He also mentioned that, recent substantial decline of gold prices has raised concerns. From January to May this year, the world gold price has reduced from 1,683.75 to 1,354.75 representing 20 percent decline thereby making mining companies contemplate whether to invest more or not.

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Mr Toni Aubynn said “as a good practice, those who bear the brunt of mining must get the benefits. These communities, where mining takes place must see the benefits directly in terms of infrastructure improvement.”

“These communities have had bad road network before, during and after mining so how can they say that they have benefitted from mining,” he asked.

According to him, in the past what has returned to the communities effectively is about 5.5 percent of mineral royalty so the Chamber has advocated that at least 30 percent of total royalty should be returned to these communities.

By doing this, there will be more understanding between members of these communities and mining companies, he added.

By Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor