The Ghana Chamber of Mines has sharply criticised a one-week ultimatum issued by a group of small-scale miners in Obuasi, urging the government and security agencies to take every lawful step to maintain peace and protect lives and property in the gold-mining town.
In a statement, the Chamber said the threat by the Artisanal Small-Scale Miners Association to “advise themselves” risked destabilising a municipality already grappling with tensions over access to mining concessions.
The Chamber warned that the ultimatum, which has circulated widely in the media, amounted to an attempt to sidestep established dispute-resolution mechanisms. It said such actions were “a threat to the peace and stability of the mining industry and the Obuasi municipality,” calling for calm and urging all parties to work through existing platforms for engagement.
Seeking to defuse what it described as growing misinformation, the Chamber issued clarifications on the security situation at the Obuasi mine. It said military personnel stationed at the site were not private guards acting on the orders of AngloGold Ashanti Ghana (AGAG), but state security officers deployed under the authority of the National Security Council to protect a strategic national asset and enforce the Minerals and Mining Act. Any suggestion that AGAG was directing armed operations against residents, it added, was “factually incorrect.”
The Chamber also rejected claims that AGAG had refused to release land to small-scale miners. It said the company had already relinquished about 60 percent of its original concession to the government to support regulated community mining and local development. Unauthorised incursions into the remaining fenced-off operational areas, it added, undermined safety and the government’s broader community mining programme.
Obuasi has seen periodic clashes between illegal miners and security forces, particularly around the company’s underground workings. The mine remains a significant contributor to the local and national economy, and the Chamber said continued investment through AGAG’s long-term socio-economic development plan depended on maintaining a secure and lawful environment.
Responding to allegations of poor communication, the Chamber said AGAG was actively involved in tripartite talks with government and national leaders of the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners. These discussions, governed by a formal framework, serve as the roadmap for the government’s Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme. Issuing threats through the media, it said, was counterproductive and risked derailing progress.
The Chamber urged the small-scale miners’ leadership to return to the joint working platforms already in place, and called on the media to verify claims about land tenure and security arrangements to avoid fuelling tensions. It reiterated its support for AngloGold Ashanti, saying responsible mining could only thrive in an environment anchored in the rule of law.
