Kakum Park Mining Application Rejected

– As Minerals C’ssion Removes Bid From Online Mining Cadastre

The Minerals Commission has clarified that an application submitted by the High Street Ghana Limited for a license to mine in the Kakum National Park in the Central Region has been rejected outright, without any consideration.

The commission, in a press statement, noted that the application cannot be processed, let alone be considered and, consequently, deleted the bid from the online mining cadastre.

The press statement, signed and issued on Sunday, November 12, 2023 by the chief executive officer, Martin Kwaku Ayisi, assured the public that no mineral rights shall be granted any company to mine in the Kakum National Park.

“The Commission wishes to assure the public that no mineral right, whether for prospecting or mining, shall be considered or granted in the Kakum National Park,” the statement noted.

The swift response by the Minerals Commission follows recent concerns raised by some civil society organisations (CSOs) and the public, regarding an application by the company to mine in the park.

The application by the High Street Ghana Limited is among 14 applications the Minerals Commission allegedly received from firms to mine in some forest reserves across the country.

At a stakeholder engagement on the new regulation on Mining in Ghana’s Forest Reserves (LI 2462) 2022 on Thursday, November 9, the director of the Nature and Development Foundation, Mustapha Seidu, warned that failure to scrap the Legislative Instrument (LI 2462) will lead to wanton destruction of the country’s forest.

“As we speak, there are 14 more applications under different stages of consideration by the Minerals Commission, including an application by High Street Ghana Limited to mine in the Kakum National Park.

“That application is under the validation stage and according to the concession map provided, it will cover about 24% of the reserve. So, in all, there are about 15 forest reserves that the license will cover.

“This LI now needs the immediate attention of all stakeholders. I dare say that we already have enough on our hands with respect to the destruction of forests by illegal miners.

“If in less than one year of coming into force of LI 2462, we are seeing this massive legal destruction of our forest, we can imagine what will happen in the next five years or decade,” Seidu said.

No Way

But the commission stressed the application received no consideration and was subsequently removed from the online mining cadastre.

According to the commission, the application by the High Street Ghana Limited was unequivocally rejected and, as a result, holds no validity or consideration.

“The Commission wishes to inform the CSOs and the public that the application by High Street Mining Company Limited was rejected and therefore cannot be processed or considered whatsoever,” the statement said.

It added that, “Consequently, the Commission has deleted the application from the online mining cadaster.”

Source: Anchorghana.com