New analysis by IMANI Center for Policy and Education has revealed that Ghana stands to lose $21 million every year over the life of its first major lithium project due to a controversial decision by the government to cut the royalty rate on the Ewoyaa mine almost in half.
A critical review of the revised 2025 Mining Lease Agreement, which concerns the Ewoyaa Lithium Project, argues that the reduction of the royalty rate from the originally negotiated 10% to a statutory baseline of 5% is completely unjustified by the project’s economic facts.
IMANI asserts that this concession is an act of a “wealth transfer mechanism,” shifting millions of dollars from the Ghanaian treasury directly to foreign shareholders.
The Cost of the Concession
A royalty is the percentage of revenue the mining company pays to the state for extracting the mineral, representing the Ghanaian people’s share of their national resource.
The think tank’s Policy Position on the country’s mineral royalty regime reveals the precise cost of this reduction. IMANI breaks it down as follows;
• Per Tonne Loss: Reducing the royalty from 10% to 5% transfers approximately $60 per tonne directly from the Ghanaian people to the company.
• Annual Loss: Given that the project plans to produce approximately 350,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate per annum, the 60per tonne loss quickly escalates to an annual loss of $21 million to the state. This annual loss is expected to increase further if the medium-term price of lithium rises.
Debunking the “Unviability” Claim
The government’s primary justification for slashing the royalty rate was that a collapse in global lithium prices made the Ewoyaa project unviable at a 10% rate. However, the financial data from the company’s own Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) strongly contradicts this narrative.
The Ewoyaa project is one of the most cost-effective lithium mines globally because of its geological advantages, which translate into exceptionally low operating costs. The project’s All-In Sustaining Cost (AISC), which is the total cost to mine and prepare one tonne of concentrate for sale, is only US$610 per tonne.
Even at a theoretical crisis price of $800 per tonne, the modelling shows that the project would still be profitable, generating a net margin of $110 per tonne while paying the full 10% royalty.
Furthermore, the price figures cited by proponents of the cut are dismissed as “phantom”. As of the source’s assessment (December 8, 2025), spot prices for the lithium concentrate are tracking significantly higher, between US1,170andUS1,295 per tonne.
At these actual prices, IMANI insists that the 10% royalty leaves a healthy profit margin for the company.
The Bottomline
The think tank maintains that the claim that the project is not viable at 10% is mathematically unsupportable based on the company’s own cost data, confirming that the royalty reduction is purely a wealth transfer mechanism and not a survival necessity.
To avoid this unnecessary loss, the policy brief strongly advocates for a return to the negotiation table to secure a sliding-scale royalty mechanism with a 10% minimum baseline.
This is considered international best practice for capturing higher state revenue during inevitable commodity super-cycles
