Accra, Sept. 2, GNA - Government on Tuesday said the proposed draft legislation on mining regulations has reached its final stage and would soon be placed before Cabinet.
Also being considered is a Geological Survey Amendment Bill to enable the Geological Survey Department to perform its functions more effectively.
Speaking at the Meet-The-Press Series, Mrs Cecilia Bannerman, Minister of Mines, said the dynamic international mining scene had necessitated the review of Ghana's legal regime to make it more internationally competitive and address stakeholders' interests. She said government was poised to ensure that mining made the optimal contribution to the sustainable development of the economy and would do everything within its power to ensure that such an objective was not compromised.
Mrs Bannerman announced that government had secured a 40 million-Euro grant from the European Union to enable it to undertake mining environmental impact assessment to measure the effects of large-scale mining operations and future consequences of mine closures.
Institutional reinforcement and capacity building in the sector and geological data development, including airborne geophysical survey of the Voltaian Basin, for mineral and other resources would also be undertaken.
She said currently the sector contributes 39 per cent to the country's foreign exchange earnings with Gold ranking the highest and most dramatic growth in the last decade.
The Minister said the past decade had witnessed the sector contributing yearly an average of 12 per cent of government revenues collected by the Internal Revenue Service mainly in the form of corporate tax and royalties.
On employment, she said at present the industry employed over 100,000 people with the largest being in the small-scale artisanal production. 02 Sept. 03
