Ghana Manganese Company condemned to cease operations

Company News of Monday, February 4, 2019

Source: cedidollar.com

2019-02-04

The Ghana Manganese Company (GMC) has been ordered to cease operations.

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, in a letter, directed the management of the only Ghanaian producer of manganese located in Tarkwa in the western region to stop mining activities because of non-existent data. on its activities and revenues.

According to a letter signed by the Minister dated January 31 of this year, the directive was intended to allow the state to conduct a thorough and uninterrupted technical and financial audit of the mining entity. According to the letter, preliminary badessments of the company have raised some concerns. Hence the need for a detailed audit to establish the facts.

"A preliminary badessment of your report document and information available to the government on operations left us with 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 undertaken without any challenge. You are therefore asked to stop mining activities by February 1, 2019, "says the letter.

In January, a report by Metal.com revealed that "Chinese imports of Ghanaian manganese ore increased in 2017, with Chinese company Tianyuan Manganese increasing its mining capacity in Ghana following its acquisition of Consolidated Minerals in November 2016".

The report further stated that "a total of 3.47 million tons of manganese ore from Ghana entered China last year, up 106% from 2017, according to customs data ".

It is not clear whether the report triggered the government's position on transparency in the operation of the company but in July 2018, then area minister, Mr. John Peter Amewu, said that the government would not renew the mining lease of GMC, the company "flouted its mining agreement".

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 there; a situation that could deprive the country of millions of dollars in taxes and fees.