Government orders Minerals Commission boss to proceed on leave

The Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Dr. Toni Aubynn has been directed to proceed on leave by government, Starr News has gathered.

It is, however, not clear who is likely to replace Dr. Aubynn at the commission. Mr. Aubynn broke the news to staff of the commission in a brief meeting Monday, August 21, 2017.

Starr News has gathered that even though Mr. Aubynn did not sound too pleased with the directive, he appeared positive and thanked government for the opportunity to contribute his quota to Ghana’s development.

He urged staff of the commission to give his successor their maximum cooperation and support as was accorded him during his tenure.

Dr. Aubynn replaced Mr. Benjamin Aryee in 2014.

He joined the Commission with tremendous knowledge and experience in the extractive industry in Ghana with over twenty years of work in the sector.

He was the CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines before moving to the commission.

Prior to that, he was the Director of Corporate Affairs for Tullow Ghana Limited, the operator of the Jubilee Oil Fields in Ghana.

Dr. Aubynn has also worked for Ranger Minerals’ Damang Mine and Gold Fields Ghana Limited, one of the leading gold producers in Ghana, in various senior management roles. For almost a decade, he was the Head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Development for Gold Fields Ghana.

Dr Aubynn has also been involved in a number of mining initiatives both in Ghana and abroad, including his current role as the Chair of the Association and Commodities Group (ACG) of the London-based International Council of Minerals and Metals (ICMM).

Dr Aubynn was also the Chair of the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) Working Group of ICMM and a long-time member of the Strategic Management Advisory Group of the World Bank and DFID sponsored Community and Artisanal Small-scale Mining (CASM).

Dr Aubynn also serves on a number of Boards, including the Council of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, and the Ghana Railway Development Authority.

He also chairs the UN Global Compact Ghana Network as well as the Amenfiman Rural Bank, a leading Ghana Club 100 Rural Bank in Ghana.

He had his undergraduate education at the University of Ghana and obtained various Post-graduate degrees at the Universities of Oslo in Norway, Tampare and Helsinki in Finland.

He was the first Ghanaian PhD Fellow at the United Nations University’s Institute of Advanced Studies in Tokyo, Japan and a Fellow of the University of Tokyo. Toni has written over 40 academic papers (published and unpublished) and presented at various international conferences. He has contributed chapters to four books.

His Achievements:

1. Finalized Ghana’s Minerals & Mining Policy for Cabinet approval and official launch of the document.

2. Completion and inauguration of the new head office building

3. Passage by Parliament of Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2015 (Act 900)

4. Passage by Parliament of the much awaited Minerals Development Act

5. Secured funding from the Australian Government Aid for the development of the phase 1 of the Mining Cadastre Administration System which is expected to revolutionize the country’s mineral title management and effective accountability

6. Establishment of Government Reference Gold Assay Laboratory at the Kotoka International Airport.