The Ghana Chamber of Mines has strongly cautioned the government against proposals to cut mining lease durations from 30 years to 15 years, warning that such a move could jeopardize investment flows, reduce long-term community benefits, and weaken Ghana’s competitiveness in the global mining sector.
Delivering its position paper on proposed amendments to the Minerals and Mining Act (Act 703) at a press briefing on Monday, September 1, 2025, Chief Executive Officer Ing. Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey said mining projects are long-term, capital-intensive ventures that often require more than a decade of preparatory work before production begins.
“Reducing the tenure of mining leases to 15 years will curtail the available time for recouping investments, lower a project’s net present value, and compromise the viability of deep-seated or marginal ore bodies,” Dr. Ashigbey said.
He warned that shorter leases could also discourage near-mine exploration, incentivize high grading of deposits, sterilize marginal ore bodies, and limit long-term corporate social investments in host communities. High grading, he explained, occurs when companies focus on extracting only the highest-value ore within a limited timeframe, leaving lower-grade deposits unexploited.
In comparative terms, Dr. Ashigbey noted that Ghana could become less attractive to investors than peer jurisdictions such as Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria, where mining leases are tied to project economics rather than capped at an arbitrary shorter term.
The Chamber recommended maintaining the current 30-year lease tenure under Act 703, alongside flexible renewal arrangements, saying this is critical to sustaining investor confidence, ensuring stable government revenue, and supporting long-term socio-economic development in mining communities.
“Mining is inherently high-risk and long-term. Any legal framework that shortens the investment horizon will only elevate Ghana’s tax burden relative to peers and deter new investments,” Dr. Ashigbey cautioned.
The Chamber’s call comes amid a broader review of Ghana’s mining legislation, which also includes proposals to reduce stability agreements from 15 to 5 years, abolish development agreements for large-scale projects, and shorten prospecting licence durations.
While the industry body welcomed aspects of the review such as the creation of a medium-scale mining tier, it emphasized that lease tenure and stability agreements remain the foundation of mining investment decisions.
