The Ghana Chamber of Mines rejected the IEA’s opposition to Gold Fields’ Tarkwa lease extension, arguing private investment transformed Ghana’s mining sector, supports communities, ensures state revenue, builds local expertise, and offers stronger governance than past state-controlled mining models.
The Ghana Chamber of Mines has stepped into the heated debate over the Tarkwa Gold Mine, strongly opposing calls by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) for the government to reject Gold Fields’ lease extension application.
The Chamber maintains that the IEA’s stance is misinformed and based on factual and historical inaccuracies. In a sharp rebuttal to the think tank’s posture, the Chamber argues that abandoning the current investor-led model would jeopardize the future of Ghana’s most productive sector.
In a press conference to address the IEA’s stance, the CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, argued from several key historical, economic, and legal reasons.
1. The Failure of Past State Ownership
The Chamber reminds the public that the Tarkwa Mine was once under state control. However, the period was characterized by chronic underinvestment, operational inefficiency, and financial losses that nearly collapsed the sector.
This decline was so severe that it contributed to the macroeconomic crisis that forced Ghana into an IMF-supported Structural Adjustment Programme in 1983.
The Chamber argues that state or local ownership is not a shield against the IMF; rather, prudent management through private-public partnerships is what ensures economic stability.
2. Private Investment as a Growth Engine
Ing. Ken Ashigbey further argued that since moving away from state dominance, private capital has transformed Ghana into Africa’s leading gold producer.
For example, gold production jumped from a mere 216,000 ounces in 1983 to nearly 3 million ounces in 2025.
Companies like Gold Fields have modernized infrastructure and established a sophisticated ecosystem of local mining services that now serve the entire West African region.
3. The State Already Retains the Majority of Rents
The Chamber disputes the IEA’s claim that concessionary arrangements only favor foreign firms, noting that Ghana’s fiscal regime is one of the most stringent globally.
Between royalties, corporate taxes, and the “free-carried interest” dividends, the Ghanaian state retains over 60% of all mining sector profits.
In 2024 alone, just three operations in Tarkwa, including Gold Fields, contributed 5.1 billion GHS in taxes, representing over 7% of all direct domestic taxes collected in the country.
4. Direct Community Impact vs. Institutional Failures
While the IEA points to deteriorating infrastructure in Tarkwa as a reason for rejection, the Chamber argues this is a misdiagnosis.
In terms of corporate social responsibility to support host communities, the Chamber mentioned that Gold Fields has invested $110 million into host communities since 2002 through its foundation.
Gold Fields has funding projects like the $27 million Tarkwa-Damang road and the $16 million expansion of the Apinto Government Hospital.
.The Chamber asserts that persistent infrastructure gaps are the result of how the government distributes mineral royalties. He cites that the royalties are often spent on non-essential items like funeral donations at the district and local level, rather than on transformative initiatives.
5. A Nearly 100% Ghanaian Workforce
The Chamber highlights that private investment has built indigenous capacity, not stifled it.
Today, expatriates make up less than 0.6% of the total industry workforce, with Ghanaians occupying the highest senior technical and executive roles.
Furthermore, the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), which the IEA cites as a success of indigenous talent, was actually established through the initiative of the private mining sector and continues to receive millions in financial support from the Chamber.
6. Legal Rights and Investment Stability
From a legal standpoint, the Chamber points to the Minerals and Mining Act 2006 (Act 703), which states that if a leaseholder has materially complied with their obligations, the Minister “shall” grant the extension.
It therefore maintains that ignoring this legal mandate would destroy security of tenure, making it impossible for companies to justify the massive, long-term investments required for modern mining.
7. Scapegoating Large-Scale Mines for Environmental Damage
Finally, the Chamber argues that the IEA is focusing on the wrong target regarding environmental issues.
While Gold Fields adheres to stringent regulations and land reclamation protocols, the real elephant in the room is illegal mining, or Galamsey, which is responsible for the widespread destruction of Ghana’s water bodies and forests.
A Call for Reform, Not Rejection
Rather than reclaiming the mine, the Chamber of Mines proposes a recalibration of how the state uses the money it already gets.
They are formally advocating for at least 30% of mineral royalties to be statutorily allocated back to mining communities to ensure that the wealth generated in places like Tarkwa is visible in its streets, schools, and hospitals.
The chamber, therefore, maintains that the solution lies in better governance and accountability, not in returning to a failed model of state-controlled extraction.
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