Ghana Mining Reform May Hit Major Gold Miners

Fri July 17 2026

Ghana’s Cabinet has approved a mining law overhaul that could phase out fiscal stability deals protecting major gold miners like Newmont and AngloGold Ashanti.

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The revised Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), now heads to Parliament after Cabinet endorsement, following stakeholder consultations on a law that has governed the sector for two decades. Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah announced the move during a Government Accountability Series briefing in Accra, describing the update as necessary to give the sector a coherent legal framework fit for current challenges.

The bill restructures how licenses get issued and held. District mining committees would become the first point of contact for new applications, a medium-scale mining category would be created, and the reconnaissance license would be replaced with a single exploration license capped at five years. Mining leases would be capped at 20 years, with every lease holder required to sign a community development agreement negotiated directly with the host community rather than decided unilaterally by the company.

Buah aimed the reform squarely at speculative license holders who sit on concessions without exploring them, some for as long as 25 to 30 years. “If for five years you can’t act, we will take it from you,” he said.

On revenue, government has already introduced a sliding scale royalty system under the Minerals and Mining Royalties Regulations, 2025, tying payments to international gold prices rather than a fixed rate. Ghana has also signaled plans to phase out fiscal stability agreements, arrangements that lock in tax and regulatory terms for a set period, a shift that could affect major operators including Newmont, Gold Fields, AngloGold Ashanti, Zijin and Perseus.

The reforms accompany an intensified crackdown on illegal mining, known locally as galamsey. Between January and June, the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) carried out 200 operations across 53 districts in six mining regions, reporting an 84.1 percent success rate, 207 arrests including 46 foreign nationals, and the seizure or destruction of 78 excavators, 2,800 changfans and 1,244 makeshift mining structures.

Government also reported progress on reclaiming degraded land, restoring 1,535 acres in the Ashanti Region through a private sector partnership, with 1,500 more acres expected by year end and a separate 960 acres under government led reclamation nationwide.

The bill still needs parliamentary approval before taking effect.

Source: https://www.newsghana.com.gh/