Small-scale Gold Mining Act, 1989 (P.N.C.D.I. 218)

1. (I) Notwith!ltallding any law to the contrary, no person Li"n,,;,,~ - shall engage in or undertake any small.scale gold mining operation i!ul:~ unloss tber• ia in existence in rotpel,);t, of such mining operation a mluinf, Jfoenoe granteo by the Secretary for Lands and Natu,al Resources ot by an officer authorised in that behalf by the Secretary. (2) An appUcatlonfor a licence under this section sliallbemade iin su.;;h forms us the SC\Jcetary may dir~t, ti.., lh1: xelevanl Dhil1fot. Centre of the designated area and shall be accompanied by such fee as the Secretary may prescribe, ~- Subje.et to subsections ll) and (2) of aection 75 oi' th,e Mineralo ?i"ffiio/»-.. and Mining Law, 1986 (P,N,D,C.L.153) no licence for a small- ag;li~'Ults ooa.le gold mining operation shall be granted to~ for mi'lit- ~ale JJOld (a) any person who is not a citizen of Ghana; :f~:~- (b) any persoJI who has not attained the age of eighteen yeau; or (c) any person who is not registered by the Distl'ict Ceatre in the dooignntod. r.rca und.i;r ,mbm;"ti,on (I) of section 9 of this Law.

3. Except otherwise provided in this Law, a licence gtanted by Coudi.t¼w. the S~cretary shall be subject to such conditions al't may he spe.cifted :~~~a therein. licence.

4. (1) A licence granted under section I of this Law to any person o.,.,.,. of or group of persons other than a co-operative society shall be atloonce. for a period not exceeding three yea:rs from the date of is.sue in the first instance and may be renewed thereafter fo! such further period as: the Secretary may determine. (2) ..,_ liceµ,ce gran~~ to a co~operative !<Ociety sh an hnve, P.tt'e~t for a penod not exceeoing five years from the date of issue and may be ren~wed thereafter fot such further period as the Secretary may determme. . (3) The Secret:\ry may by lesisbtive instrument prescribe such fees as may be paid for the grant and renewal of a licence li'r,der-this Law. - 2 SMALl·SCALE GOLD MINING LAW,'1989 Area~._~,. ~. 'Thi'.' si'.l.¢ of the area in rospect of whiQh a liconaC muy·'bc granted vemiby under this Law shall not exceed- licence. (aJ three acres irt the case of a grant to any one person or group of persons not excee(ling fo\)t,in num_ber; (b) five acres m the case Or a grant to any group of per.. sons not exceeding nine in n11mbet; and (c) twenty-five ac1es in the cas~ of-a grant•to-a· co~opera- th1e society of ten or more person~. Revo...:itlo11 6, T'he Secretary mny at any time revoke a licence granted undct ,1i !f,.cf>CCS, thl~ Law where- (a) he is satisfie that tne licensee has- contravened or failed to comply witb. any of the terms and conditions of the licerice or any reqtiirement of this taw or of the Minerals and Mining Law, 1986 (P.N.D.C.L. 153) applicable to him; ·· (bJ lhe licensee is conv1ctcc;L ol any otl'.ence relating to the smuggling or illegal sale or dealirf{ in gold, or (c) he is satisfied thafit is in the public interest to do so. Lil.<:la,;;1; 1111( 7, A li1,;c:n1,;1:: ~Hmted nnder thls law shall not be transt'er.able. transfer• able, Distrkt Ctn• 8. (l)The Minerals Commission shall for thepmposesofmoni~ tres and to ring small~scale gold mining opetat.-ion~ ~~tablislt in u.n .i,rea desi8~ th,:ir ft,r.:• tfons. nated as ii srnalJ~svaJe gold minh,g operation area under subsection (l) of section 77 of the Minerals and Mining Law, 1986 (P.N.D.C.L. 153), a Centre to be known as the District Small-scale Gold Mining Centre (hereafter in this Law referred to as the C'DistrfotCentre"_). (2) A. District Centre shall in respect of its desigti!lted area hav.e the foJlowing functfons: (aJ compile a register of all small~scale gold·miners and prospective sn1nll~rmalr, gnlcl ,:ruin~rsi sp!leifyins titrnh partiC1Jlars as may be determined by the Secretary; (b) supervise and monitor the 'operation and activities of the small-scale go]d miners and prospective small-scale gold miners. (c) advise and provides11cn ua1n1ng facilities and assistance as may be necessary .for effective and efficient small.. scale gold mining operations; (d) c<:uhmit t0 th,,., lv.Iiner~Js Comm1ss1nn in.such.form and at SltCh intervals as may b'e directed by the Commission, reports or othet docutnents and information on small- scale gold mining activities within the District. 3 P.N.D.C.L. 218. SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINING LAW, 1989 9. ft) An" t1erson enoaged. in or wishing to undertake any type of Regis,ra- , s:na 1l~scale · · 0 operauon 'go'1a· inmm15 • ' ter w1'th th e D'st sha ll rcgts don of t rt'ot orosvective Centre of Lhe di:::.ignaced area where he operates or intends to licensees. operate. (2) The District Centre shall on the registration of any person under sc1 bsection ( 1) of this section issue a Certificate ofRegfat1 ation to snch person. (3) No person shall be granted a licence \tnder subsection (1) uf section l unless s1..ich person has been registered under subsection (!) of this seotion, Small-scale

10. (!) There shall be established in every designated area a gold m!ning Small-scale Gold Mining Committee (hereafter refened to in this Comrnmees. Law as «the Committee"). (ZJ The Co:n:nlttee sball consist of the following members: (<t) the District Secretary or his representative who shall be the Chairman of the Committee; (h) th<o< o'B."."~i'-il'H'.'J;\\\.rg,.. of tho Diotrii;it Contx:c; (i:) a representative of the town Development and PJau,. ning Committee of the district; (d) two representatives of the C.D,R. in the district. (3) The Committee shall assist the District Centre to effectively monitor, pro.note and develop small-scale gold mining operatio.:1s in the designated area. (4) The member~ of the CommHtee shall bold office for :mcit periods and on snch terms and conditions as the Secretary may determi11.e. PART If-OPERATIONS Ul' SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINERS 11, A person licensed to mine gold under this Law may win, mine Operations a~d produ~e gold by any effcctiv;: :tnd effici~nt met.hod and sb.aU in his opernt10ns observe ,good mmmg practices, health and safety mincrn. ~fas::id mies and pay due regard to the protection of tne environment, 12, Where a licence is granted in a designated area to any person Com~su~ othet than the owner of the land, the licensee shall pay to the owner tion for uso of the land such compensation for the use of the land as the Secretary oflaiid. may in consultation with the Minerals Commission and the Lands Valuation Board determine.

13. No sm.all•scal~ sold miner shall mn:: any explosive ill his Use of operations, Cl~Plosi\'i!i prohibited, P.N.D.C.L. 218. 4 SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINING LAW, 1989 Puroh~of 14. A small~scale gold miner may purchase from any authorised mercury, mercury dealer such c1uantities of mercury as may be reasonably necessary for the purposes of his mining operations.

15. For a period of three years from the date of the <1oming into fuii;e vf th.ill Ww, 1ill p<:.1JOrn'I ,;;n5'1.5,;;d 1u 3mall-;;1,;,~}o 150-ld mini..-,5 operations shall be exempted front the payment or income tax an.d royalties in respect of such mining operations. PART !!I-LICENCE TO DP.AL IN GOLD AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Liconoe to 16. Without prejltdice to any enactment empowering any person buy "art OJ,' body to purchase and dea.l in gold, tn.e Ser;retary may in con£ult.a- d,al In gold, tion with the Minerals Commission in writing. license sucb persons as he may consider fit 1 to buy and deal in sucb types and forms of gold and under snch terms and cor,ditions as may be spe<:ified in the licence, Sale of B(tld. 17. (IJ Any licensed small-scale gold miner or any person fa possession of gold may sell s11ch g:old in his possession to authorised buyers only. (2) A pets.on shall be presumed to be lawfully in !;)QSW$\01.\ -0{ gold l,ntil the contrary is proved. Sale or 18. Nothing contained in this Law or in any other enactment ·~ .iewellcry, shall be i,on•trued M precluding any person from dealing with or disposing of his gold jewellery, gold ru ti fact or gold coin to au tho- rised dealers oi- to any person whatsoever. Olfc.11COS 19. (I) Any person who buys or sells gold without a licence granted a,i,d punith- mont, under this Law or without a valid authority granted under an enact- ment for the time being in force shall be guilty of an offence an,d shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding ~5 million or to imprisonment for a tenn not exceeding five years or to both- (2) Any person who- (a) without a licencl'! granted by the Secretary undertakes any small..scale gold mining operation contrary to subsection (1) of section 1 oft.hill.Law; or (b) acts in contravention of any other provision of thic; Law in respect of which an offence has not been pres- cribed, shall be guilty of an offence and shall Oll conviction be liable to a fine not .exceeding ¢2 million or to imprispnment for a tenn not exoeedlng 210M, or to both.. 5 P.N,D.C.L, 218. SMALL-SCALE GOLD M!NlNG LAW, 1989 (3) A court before whicn any person is coavicted under this 1:p,v., 11'\',lf in ~dd;ti(.\.!\ t~ !.lny pt>t\\llt:,1 th~t \t n:i\\y 1~r~~ c-tder th~ forfeiture to the State. of the gokLor other rninera in respect of which the offonoe was committed, (4) Where an alien is convlcted of an offence under this Law he shall after pc.ying the fu:l.e or scrvjng an, imprisonment impo!!cd on .him. be liable to deportation under section J 3 of the Aliens Act, 1963 (Aot 160). ::20. The Secretaxy may 011 the advice of tile Minerals Commission, Rcgulationi. and the Chief Inspector of Mines make such regulations as may be necessary for th.e effective implementation of this Law.

21. In thi.s Law unless the context otherwise requires- 1ntcrpre- ..authorised buyer" means a person authorised by the tntfon• Seo«ta,:y to buy gold; "citizen of Ghana." has the same meaning as provided insection 84 (!) of the Miner.ls and Mining Law, 1986 (P,N,D,C,L. 1.53) but <toes not jr:ch1de a public Cor- poration; "designated area" means an area designated as a small-scale mineral operation area by the Secretary by a notice published in tile Gazette. Hgoldn means gold dust, gold bullion, retorted gold. gold ore, gold amalgam, gold allo, precjpirates con- taining gold, slag. concentrates, tailings and residi.te coataiuing guM; "licensed small~scale gold miner" means a person licensed under this Law to win and mine gold; "Secretary means tho P.N.D.C. Secrctarv resuonsible i\?: for Lartds a.nd Nat\lral Resonrccs; - "small-scale gold mining operation') means me miDing ./~.-·' ,. '·" . of gold by any method not involving substantial expenditure by an indivldu:1.l or group of persons: not e,,ceeding nine in number or by a co-operative society made up of ten or more persons. Made this 19th day of April, 1989. FLr,-LT. JERRY JOHN RAWLINGS Chalrmm, of the Provisional Natfono/ Defence COWJei/ Date of Gazette notification: 2nd June, 1989.