The Minerals Commission has defended its decision to decline the renewal of the Damang Mining Lease for Gold Fields Ghana Limited.
Checks by JoyNews at the Commission suggest the mining company failed to meet the necessary requirements for the lease extension.
While the specific reasons for the refusal have not been made public, Section 44 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) outlines clear conditions under which a mining lease may be renewed. Failure to meet these conditions could lead to the government withholding approval.
The rejection comes as the 30-year mining lease granted to Gold Fields in April 1995 is set to expire on April 18, 2025.
Gold Fields’ 2023 Annual Report revealed that mining operations at Damang effectively ended in 2023 following the depletion of the Huni pits. The company had planned to process stockpiles until the end of 2025.
According to the Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Supplement to the company’s Integrated Annual Report 2023, the Damang Reinvestment Project (DRP) was projected for depletion by 2025, with the final years focused solely on stockpile processing. The report also noted that all key exploration targets had been tested, and there was little potential for significant or large-scale discoveries at the site. As a result, no exploration activities were planned for 2024.
In its 2024 report, the company further disclosed that the “ongoing processing of remaining stockpiles is not economic under conservative reserve gold pricing.”
Gold Fields formally announced in a statement issued on April 12, 2025, that the government had declined its application to renew the Damang Mining Lease. The company acknowledged its inability to continue operations at the site and stated:
“We have tabled further proposals with the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources of Ghana in an effort to resolve the current situation; however, in the interim, we must begin to comply with the expiry of our mining lease.”
The company has since begun a phased reduction in production and has initiated steps for the safe and orderly shutdown of its mining activities at Damang.