164 miners and a Chinese gang arrested in a few days for illegal gold mining in Ghana
In the year 2021, Ghana lost the title of Africa’s leading gold producer. While an intensive fight against illegal exploitation has been carried out for several months, the parallel development of official circuits should encourage an increase in national production.
In Ghana, the army completed a three-day operation that arrested 164 illegal gold miners, ‘ galamseyers ‘ as they are known in the country. The latter, many of whom come from Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, have invaded mining concessions or carry out gold panning in riverbeds.
According to Ghanaian Times which reports the information, these new arrests come after those of 5 Chinese nationals, including a woman, last week by National Security agents. Nicknamed “ Galamsey Queen ”, gang leader Aisha Huang has been charged along with her four accomplices for mining and trading minerals without the proper licenses.
“ This is a wake-up call to anyone who has ignored our many warnings to stop illegal mining. We will chase you and arrest you. Leave our waterways and forests now ,” said George Mireku-Duker, Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.
While Accra’s fight against illegal gold mining has taken another turn since last year, it should be noted that Ghana has lost its place as the leading African producer to South Africa. If the former Gold Coast should not recover this status before the end of the year according to an estimate by Fitch , the fight against this phenomenon and the insertion of minors in the official circuits could contribute to increasing production in the medium term. national.
