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The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, has asked the management of the Ghana Manganese Company (GMC) located in Tarkwa in the western region to shut down its mining activities.
According to a letter signed by the Minister and dated 31 January this year, the directive was to pave the way for a thorough and uninterrupted technical and financial audit of the mining entity.
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According to the letter, a copy of which the Daily Graphic has heard, preliminary badessments of certain documents relating to the company's activities have given rise to certain concerns; Hence the need for a detailed audit to establish the facts.
"A preliminary badessment of your report, documents and information available to the government on your operations left us no choice but to ask you to immediately stop operations in your mining sector.
"The cessation of your operations will ensure, among other things, that the technical and financial audit is conducted without any problem, so you must stop the mining operations before February 1, 2019", added the letter to the management of the company. . .
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Confirmation
When the ministry's public relations officer, Abraham Otabil, was contacted last Saturday, he confirmed the story.
He explained that the company did not provide information to get a clear idea of its profitability for the state.
"In 2018, for example, China's imports of manganese from the GMC rose to about 3.47 million tonnes, an improvement of 106 percent over 2017. In the meantime do not get the right numbers and results.
"They do not cooperate with the technical and financial audit that will help us to have a clear picture of the situation, but we can not let the country be escaped. That's why a thorough audit is needed", said the president. officer said.
Mr. Otabil added: "We audit all the major mining companies to ensure transparency in their operations, some have worked very well together and we expect others to do the same."
According to him, once the department had completed the audit, it would determine the next line of action for the company, including a decision on when it would resume operations.
Recall
In July 2018, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources of the day, Mr. John-Peter Amewu, indicated that the government would not renew the GMC mining lease because the company " ignored his mining contract ".
It appeared that the company had not involved the government in determining the price of manganese ore sold to a company in China for processing.
Amewu said the GMC's action could deprive the country of millions of dollars in taxes and fees.
As a result, he instructed the company's management to provide the Minerals Commission with complete information on the pricing of ore and other minerals by the GMC.
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