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For the Environment: An Assessment of Recent Military Intervention in Informal Gold Mining Communities in Ghana

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  • Hilson, Gavin
  • Maconachie, Roy

Abstract

This article reflects critically on the impacts of the recent ban on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing – in Ghana. Government officials claimed that a ban was necessary because the country’s ASM activities, most of which are found in the informal economy, pose a serious threat to local waterbodies and that security forces were needed for its enforcement. It is argued here, however, that projecting the ban and associated military intervention as actions taken specifically to protect the environment has helped the government escape scrutiny over its choice of strategy to combat illegal mining. Perhaps more importantly, it has masked what may be the real reasons behind these moves: 1) to help the government regain control of the purchasing side of an ASM sector that is now heavily populated and influenced by foreigners; and 2) to put it in an improved position to demarcate parcels of land to the multinational mineral exploration and mining companies that supply it with significant quantities of revenue in the form of taxes, royalties and permit fees.

Suggested Citation

  • Hilson, Gavin & Maconachie, Roy, 2020. "For the Environment: An Assessment of Recent Military Intervention in Informal Gold Mining Communities in Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:96:y:2020:i:c:s026483771931511x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104706
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Johnson, C. & Moore, K.R. & Johnson, D., 2024. "Maturing the concept of small-scale mining (SSM) in the Global North using concept evaluation criteria on the placer mining industry in Yukon, Canada," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Osei, Lydia & Yeboah, Thomas & Kumi, Emmanuel & Antoh, Ernestina Fredua, 2021. "Government's ban on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining, youth livelihoods and imagined futures in Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Kumah, Richard, 2022. "Artisanal and small-scale mining formalization challenges in Ghana: Explaining grassroots perspectives," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Mabe, Franklin Nantui & Dauda, Ayuba & Owusu-Sekyere, Ebenezer, 2023. "Artisanal small-scale mining, farm labour attraction and household welfare in Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    5. Rejoice Selorm Wireko-Gyebi & Michael Osei Asibey & Owusu Amponsah & Rudith Sylvana King & Imoro Braimah & Godfred Darko & Anne Mette Lykke, 2020. "Perception of Small-Scale Miners on Interventions to Eradicate Illegal Small-Scale Mining in Ghana," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, October.
    6. Hilson, Gavin, 2020. "The ‘Zambia Model’: A blueprint for formalizing artisanal and small-scale mining in sub-Saharan Africa?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    7. Adu-Baffour, Ferdinand & Daum, Thomas & Birner, Regina, 2021. "Governance challenges of small-scale gold mining in Ghana: Insights from a process net-map study," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    8. Grant, J. Andrew & Wilhelm, Cindy, 2022. "A flash in the pan? Agential constructivist perspectives on local content, governance, and the large-scale mining–artisanal and small-scale mining interface in West Africa," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    9. Eduful, Michael & Alsharif, Kamal & Eduful, Alexander & Acheampong, Michael & Eduful, Joyce & Mazumder, Lubana, 2020. "The Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale mining (Galamsey) ‘Menace’ in Ghana: Is Military-Style Approach the Answer?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    10. Clifford Amoako & Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa & Kofi Appiah Koranteng, 2023. "Survival now, sustainability later: the emerging artisanal mining and the dying agricultural livelihoods in the Akyem Abuakwa traditional area of Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 1645-1666, February.
    11. Wireko-Gyebi, Rejoice Selorm & Asibey, Michael Osei & Baah-Ennumh, Theresa Yaaba, 2022. "Planning for the effective and sustainable management of Ghana’s artisanal small-scale gold mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    12. Osman, Adams & Owusu, Martin Tabi & Anu, Stephen Kwame & Essandoh, Sampson & Aboansi, Justice & Abdullai, Dennis, 2022. "Ban on artisanal mining in Ghana: Assessment of wellbeing, party affiliation and voting pattern of miners in Daboase, Western Region," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

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