Governent to audit mines – Amewu

Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, has disclosed government’s intention to soon conduct an operational audit of all mines across the country.

The audit, he says, will enable government to monitor content and amount of gold extracted by the mining companies to ensure Ghana is not shortchanged.

Speaking to Class91.3FM’s parliamentary correspondent Ekow Annan after Parliament granted a $259 million tax concession to AngloGold Ashanti, Ghana, to enable it restructure and revamp its Obuasi underground mine which has been shut down since 2014, Mr Amewu said the audit will start before August this year.

“The Ministry of Finance is about signing the contract and we’re going to start before August.

“The operational audit, what it does is that it goes beyond the normal financial audit to more technical issues about the content of the gold, the amount that has been taken, the period, capital expenditure over the period and also looks at some of their operational expenditure and do a bit detailed analysis to establish whether we gained in terms of Government’s take or whether we have fallen short, and, of course, the companies would be called back for the difference if we have. That is why we need to do this…” he said.

The $259million tax waiver granted AngloGold Ashanti is expected to create between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs with expected earnings of about $5.3 billion in the next 22 years – the remaining lifespan of the mine.