The Ghana Chamber of Mines has called for a major overhaul of Ghana’s mining revenue and royalty distribution system, warning that the country risks losing substantial fiscal value from the rapidly expanding small-scale gold mining sector.
Speaking at the Chamber’s breakfast meeting with the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources in Accra, Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Ashigbey said the gap between the tax contributions of small-scale and large-scale mining operations had become “too wide to ignore.”
According to Dr Ashigbey, small-scale miners accounted for approximately 52 percent of Ghana’s total gold production last year but contributed only about GH¢0.5 million in taxes.
By comparison, the large-scale mining sector, which produced around 48 percent of national gold output, paid nearly GH¢19 billion in taxes over the same period.
Chamber Raises Concerns Over Revenue Losses
The Chamber said the figures expose a major structural imbalance within Ghana’s mining economy, where a sector responsible for more than half of gold production contributes only a small fraction of the revenues needed to support national development and sector regulation.
“We need to make it easy for the small-scale sector to also be able to pay their taxes,” Dr Ashigbey stated.
He explained that the Chamber has already engaged consultants to support government efforts toward cooperative mining structures and formalisation within the small-scale mining industry.
The remarks come amid intensified efforts by the Government of Ghana to combat illegal mining, protect water bodies and improve oversight of mineral resources as global gold prices remain elevated.
While licensed small-scale miners play an increasingly important role in national production, authorities continue to face challenges tracking output, assessing tax obligations and enforcing environmental standards due to widespread informality within the sector.
The Chamber argued that formalisation must go beyond licensing and include production tracking systems, tax education, cooperative structures, environmental safeguards and access to responsible financing.
Call for Mining Revenue Redistribution
Beyond taxation, the Chamber renewed calls for a dedicated mining revenue allocation framework similar to the Petroleum Revenue Management Act used in Ghana’s oil and gas industry.
The proposal seeks to ensure that mining communities receive a more meaningful share of revenues generated from mineral extraction.
Dr Ashigbey disclosed that Gold Fields, Ghana Manganese Company and AngloGold Ashanti together paid approximately GH¢5.1 billion in taxes from operations within the Tarkwa enclave last year.
He questioned how much of that revenue eventually benefited the communities where the resources were extracted.
For decades, gold mining has remained central to Ghana’s export earnings and foreign exchange generation. However, many mining communities continue to face poor infrastructure, unemployment and weak local industrial activity.
The Chamber is therefore proposing that at least 30 percent of mining royalties be channelled directly into mining areas to support industrialisation, skills development and local supplier growth.
Building Industrial Hubs Around Mining
The proposal also includes developing local manufacturing and engineering capacity within mining communities.
Among the suggested initiatives are factories producing activated carbon from coconut and palm kernel shells, as well as repair and reconditioning centres for mining equipment located closer to mining areas instead of Accra or Tema.
“It is said that during the gold rush in the West, those who sold pickaxes and shovels made more money than the people who actually mined the gold,” Dr Ashigbey noted, emphasizing the importance of building industries around mining rather than relying solely on raw mineral extraction.
Industry leaders believe stronger localisation of mining supply chains could help transform towns such as Tarkwa, Ahafo and Bibiani into long-term industrial hubs capable of sustaining economic activity beyond the lifespan of individual mines.
However, they stressed that achieving such reforms would require transparent royalty management, credible enforcement and policies focused on genuine local capacity-building rather than short-term political interests.
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