The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has shed light on the government’s strategy for bringing unlicensed artisanal and small-scale miners into the formal economy, describing the approach as a practical pathway to regulation rather than a blanket amnesty for illegal mining.
Speaking on the initiative, Mr. Gyamfi explained that District Chief Executives (DCEs) across the country have been tasked with compiling comprehensive data on all mining sites within their respective communities. The exercise forms part of a nationwide formalisation drive aimed at identifying, registering and eventually licensing operators who are currently working outside the law.
A central pillar of the programme, according to the GoldBod boss, is a clear distinction between miners who can be brought into compliance and those whose activities are considered beyond reform. He identified three categories of artisanal and small-scale mining that he said are “irredeemably wrong and can neither be tolerated nor reformed.”
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The first is mining that affects water bodies and rivers — an activity that has become synonymous with the pollution of major rivers and the destruction of aquatic ecosystems. The second is mining within forest reserves, which threatens protected biodiversity and forest cover. The third category covers mining in what he termed “obscene places” within communities that pose a danger to society, including roadsides, school lands, homes and even bedrooms. These, he stressed, fall outside any consideration for formalisation.
Mr. Gyamfi was careful to make clear that the programme is not a licence to mine without a permit. Rather, it is designed as a structured pathway to transform unlicensed miners into licensed, responsible and environmentally conscious operators. The underlying logic is that bringing willing miners into the formal system — with oversight, training and documentation — is more effective than leaving them to operate in the shadows.
“Once artisanal and small-scale miners are not mining in a forest reserve, a water body or an obscene place that negatively impacts the environment, that mineralised area, even if unlicensed, meets the eligibility requirement of formalisation,” he stated.
Under the arrangement, eligible miners will receive support to obtain the appropriate legal documentation, certifications and permits, alongside training intended to promote sustainability across the sector. The emphasis on training and certification suggests the government is aiming not merely to register miners but to instil better practices around safety, environmental stewardship and responsible extraction.
Mr. Gyamfi also defended the approach against critics who might argue that the state should take a harder line. He maintained that formalising these miners represents a more sustainable solution than deploying soldiers to chase them away. The comment speaks to a long-running debate in Ghana over how best to tackle illegal small-scale mining, often referred to locally as galamsey, which has persisted despite repeated enforcement campaigns.
Successive governments have grappled with the challenge of balancing livelihoods against environmental protection, given that artisanal and small-scale mining provides income for large numbers of people. A purely punitive approach, critics have long argued, risks criminalising vulnerable communities while failing to stop the practice, since miners simply move to new locations. The formalisation model, by contrast, seeks to convert a problem into a regulated industry where miners operate within defined boundaries and contribute to the economy.
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The reliance on DCEs to gather data on mining sites is significant, as it pushes the exercise down to the district level where local knowledge of mining activity is strongest. If implemented effectively, this could produce a more accurate picture of where mining is happening and help authorities separate those willing to comply from those operating in prohibited areas.
However, the programme’s success will likely depend on several factors, including the capacity of district assemblies to carry out the mapping, the speed with which permits and certifications can be issued, and the willingness of miners to participate. There is also the question of enforcement — ensuring that the three prohibited categories are genuinely excluded and that formalisation does not inadvertently legitimise operations that continue to damage the environment.
For now, the government is presenting the initiative as a shift from confrontation to inclusion, framing formalisation as a route to both environmental protection and economic empowerment. Whether that balance can be struck in practice will determine how the drive is judged in the months and years ahead.
