Ghana’s decades-long battle against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, may require more than military operations, arrests and the seizure of excavators to achieve lasting success.
A fundamental shift towards modern technology, economic incentives and responsible mining practices could hold the key to ending the environmental destruction while protecting the livelihoods of thousands of Ghanaians who depend on the sector.
At the centre of this proposed transformation is an ambitious target: increasing gold recovery from the estimated 30 per cent achieved by many illegal miners to as much as 95 per cent through modern processing technology, improved geological information and professional mining practices.
Finance and economic policy analyst Senyo Hosi believes such a transformation could fundamentally change the economics of small-scale mining, making environmentally responsible operations more profitable than illegal activities.
His argument challenges Ghana’s longstanding reliance on enforcement-led interventions and raises a critical question: What if the solution to galamsey lies not simply in stopping miners from extracting gold, but in helping them recover more gold while destroying less land?
For Mr Hosi, the answer lies in restructuring the artisanal and small-scale mining industry to ensure that environmental protection and economic prosperity reinforce each other rather than compete.
He maintains that Ghana can win the fight against galamsey, but only if policymakers confront the economic realities that continue to sustain the illegal mining industry.
The 95% Gold Recovery Proposal
One of the most striking elements of Mr Hosi’s proposal is the enormous difference between the gold recovered through conventional galamsey methods and the potential recovery achievable through modern mining technology.
According to him, some galamsey operators have acknowledged recovering only about 30 per cent of the gold contained in the ore they process.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, he noted, has also estimated recovery levels from galamsey operations at approximately 40 per cent.
This means a substantial proportion of potentially recoverable gold is left behind during extraction and processing.
Mr Hosi argues that the situation represents both an economic loss and an environmental challenge, as miners are compelled to excavate more land and process additional material to sustain their earnings.
However, consultations with mining experts have convinced him that the introduction of modern geological mapping, mercury-free processing technologies, closed-water systems and professional mine planning could potentially raise recovery rates to about 95 per cent.
Such recovery levels, he explained, would bring small-scale mining closer to the efficiency achieved by major mining companies.
The implications could be significant.
Instead of continuously expanding mining pits, clearing forests and disturbing additional land in search of more gold, miners could potentially increase their earnings by extracting more value from the material already mined.
Improved geological information would also enable miners to identify viable deposits before excavation, reducing unnecessary land disturbance.
Modern processing systems could further minimise the discharge of contaminated water and other harmful substances into the environment.
Under this arrangement, environmental responsibility would no longer be viewed merely as an expensive regulatory obligation but as an essential component of a more productive and profitable mining business.
Making Responsible Mining More Profitable
For years, Ghana’s approach to illegal mining has largely revolved around enforcement operations, including raids on mining sites, the destruction or seizure of equipment and the arrest of suspected offenders.
Although these interventions have disrupted illegal activities, their ability to deliver permanent results remains a subject of national concern.
Mr Hosi believes the central weakness in the existing strategy is its failure to change the economic incentives that encourage people to engage in galamsey.
He argues that miners are unlikely to abandon illegal operations when the financial rewards remain substantial and the alternatives offer comparatively limited opportunities.
“The way forward is therefore to make compliance more profitable than illegality and noncompliance consequential,” he said.
His proposed model would require government to facilitate access to modern mining equipment, geological information, technical expertise, responsible processing facilities and affordable financing.
In return, participating miners would be required to formalise their operations, comply with environmental and safety standards and repay the investment from the additional income generated through improved gold recovery.
The arrangement would effectively create a financial mechanism through which higher productivity supports environmental protection.
A transparent portion of the additional revenue could be directed towards equipment financing, land reclamation, environmental monitoring and gold traceability systems.
Mr Hosi believes such an approach would provide miners with a compelling economic reason to operate within the law.
“If government wants the gold, it must fix the system that produces it,” he said.
Why Government Intervention Is Critical
Despite the potential benefits of modern mining technology, the cost of acquiring sophisticated equipment and developing responsible processing infrastructure remains a major obstacle.
Many small-scale miners lack the financial capacity to invest in advanced machinery, geological assessments and environmentally sustainable processing systems.
Mr Hosi therefore believes government intervention is essential to making the proposed transformation commercially viable.
“Galamseyers will not invest in these, but government can and must, either on its own or through its facilitation,” he said.
Rather than relying exclusively on punitive measures, government could help establish the infrastructure and financing arrangements needed to transition informal miners into regulated operations.
Such investments could be recovered gradually from the additional value generated by improved gold recovery.
The approach would also require clear accountability mechanisms to ensure that beneficiaries comply with environmental standards and meet their financial obligations.
Access to public support, Mr Hosi argues, should be tied to measurable performance and compliance.
This would ensure that government assistance becomes an incentive for responsible mining rather than an indirect subsidy for continued environmental destruction.
The Economic Reality Behind Galamsey
Beyond the environmental consequences, the galamsey crisis is deeply connected to unemployment, poverty and the limited availability of attractive economic opportunities in many mining communities.
Mr Hosi believes any serious attempt to address the problem must acknowledge the substantial income that illegal mining generates for individuals and families.
He revealed that some Junior High School dropouts engaged in galamsey reportedly earn between GH¢2,000 and GH¢10,000 weekly.
Such earnings, he noted, can exceed the salaries of many university graduates employed in the formal economy.
This financial reality helps explain why some young people continue to participate in illegal mining despite the associated health, safety and environmental risks.
It also explains why certain communities remain reluctant to cooperate with enforcement agencies.
“Where formal jobs are scarce, NAIMOS raids cannot outcompete Galamsey earnings,” Mr Hosi observed.
His assessment highlights a difficult policy dilemma.
While the destruction of forests, rivers and agricultural lands threatens Ghana’s long-term development, the immediate financial benefits of mining remain critical to the survival of many households.
Mr Hosi referenced observations by Germany’s Ambassador to Ghana, Frederik Landshöft, who highlighted the estimated one million people involved in artisanal and small-scale mining.
The Ambassador stressed the importance of recognising the young people, families and communities whose livelihoods are tied to the industry.
For Mr Hosi, these economic realities demonstrate why enforcement measures must be accompanied by viable livelihood opportunities and a more productive formal mining sector.
When Raids Fail to Deliver Lasting Results
The effectiveness of Ghana’s enforcement strategy has repeatedly come under scrutiny as illegal miners return to previously cleared sites.
Mr Hosi cited developments in Osino, where miners reportedly resumed operations just days after personnel from the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) had driven them away.
The incident, he suggested, illustrates the limitations of interventions that disrupt illegal activities without addressing the conditions that sustain them.
“If every raid merely resets the clock, then what exactly are we changing and what are we winning?” he questioned.
He does not advocate abandoning enforcement.
Rather, he believes enforcement must operate alongside economic reforms capable of making legal mining more attractive.
Without such reforms, the financial incentives that draw miners into illegal operations will continue to undermine government interventions.
The challenge, therefore, is not simply to intensify raids but to establish a system in which miners have stronger reasons to comply with the law than to violate it.
The Human Cost of Unsafe Mining
The consequences of illegal mining extend beyond environmental degradation.
Unsafe mining pits, abandoned excavations and poorly regulated operations continue to expose communities to serious dangers.
Mr Hosi disclosed that 22 people had reportedly drowned in abandoned mining pits in the Central Region within seven months.
Other incidents, he noted, have involved collapsing mining pits and children losing their lives in abandoned craters.
Yet, despite these tragedies, sustained community resistance to illegal mining has remained limited in some affected areas.
Mr Hosi believes this apparent contradiction must be understood within the context of economic dependence.
“Are those of us outside crying more than the bereaved, or have we failed to understand what keeps the bereaved silent?” he asked.
He cautioned against interpreting the absence of widespread protests as evidence that affected communities approve of illegal mining.
“The silence is not consent. It is evidence of how tightly galamsey is bound to people’s survival in these communities,” he said.
He cited Jema as an example of a community that had resisted galamsey, although he acknowledged that such cases remained exceptions.
The situation underscores the need for interventions that protect lives while addressing the economic vulnerability of mining communities.
Measuring Success Beyond Arrests and Seized Excavators
Another major concern raised by Mr Hosi is the way Ghana measures progress in the fight against galamsey.
Government interventions are frequently assessed through the number of illegal mining sites raided, excavators seized and suspected offenders arrested.
However, he argues that these indicators do not necessarily demonstrate whether the underlying problem is being resolved.
“The failure of our current strategy is not due to an absence of action; it is the result of substituting action for results,” he said.
He believes the effectiveness of anti-galamsey interventions should instead be measured through tangible environmental and economic outcomes.
These should include improvements in water quality, the restoration of degraded lands, safer mining operations, increased lawful gold production and better livelihoods for mining communities.
Mr Hosi proposed the establishment of agreed environmental and economic baselines for every mining district.
Government, he suggested, should publish independently verified scorecards showing progress in land reclamation, water quality, mining safety, lawful production, traceability and the profitability of responsible small-scale mining.
Such a system would enable the public to assess whether interventions are producing lasting improvements or merely providing temporary relief.
It would also introduce greater transparency and accountability into Ghana’s fight against illegal mining.
Gold’s Importance to Ghana’s Economy
The debate over illegal mining becomes even more complicated when the wider economic significance of gold is considered.
According to Mr Hosi, gold accounted for 67.4 per cent of Ghana’s export receipts in 2025, highlighting the commodity’s importance to foreign-exchange earnings and the broader economy.
He warned that an abrupt disruption to gold production could have consequences for foreign-exchange inflows, the stability of the cedi and economic activities in mining communities.
This creates a difficult balancing act for policymakers.
While environmental destruction imposes significant long-term costs, the immediate economic consequences of shutting down mining operations can be politically and financially substantial.
Mr Hosi believes this tension helps explain why successive governments have often relied on periodic enforcement exercises instead of implementing comprehensive structural reforms.
However, he rejects the suggestion that Ghana must choose between economic prosperity and environmental protection.
In his view, a properly designed small-scale mining industry could contribute to foreign-exchange earnings while supporting sustainable land use and responsible environmental management.
The objective should therefore be to transform the sector rather than simply suppress its activities.
Lessons From Years of Anti-Galamsey Advocacy
Mr Hosi’s proposals also reflect his personal experience campaigning against illegal mining.
He acknowledged that his involvement in the campaign had come at considerable personal and professional cost.
“I rarely join a fight unless I can see a path to victory. I honestly believed the campaign against galamsey was such a fight, and I entered it with full conviction,” he said.
According to him, the campaign cost him friendships, created enemies and negatively affected his businesses.
Despite those challenges, he maintains that Ghana can overcome the galamsey crisis.
However, he believes achieving that objective requires a willingness to reconsider strategies that have repeatedly failed to deliver sustainable results.
Drawing on lessons from his policy lecturers, particularly Prof. Dordunoo, Mr Hosi emphasised the importance of flexibility and practicality in public policy.
“When a method repeatedly fails, persistence is not virtue; it is a refusal to learn,” he stated.
His position reflects a broader argument that successful policy interventions must be judged by their outcomes rather than the intensity of the activities undertaken.
Beyond Gold: Building a Diversified Economy
Although his immediate proposal focuses on transforming small-scale mining, Mr Hosi believes Ghana must also address its wider dependence on gold and other primary commodities.
He called for greater investment in manufacturing, agriculture, agro-processing, tourism, digital services, traditional exports and other internationally competitive economic activities.
He also identified remittances as an important component of the country’s foreign-exchange landscape.
According to him, gold can continue to provide significant foreign-exchange earnings, but it cannot independently deliver the diversified productive economy Ghana requires.
A stronger industrial and services sector would create additional employment opportunities, particularly for young people who might otherwise turn to environmentally destructive mining activities.
Such diversification could gradually reduce the economic dependence of mining communities on galamsey while strengthening Ghana’s resilience to external economic shocks.
A New Direction for Ghana’s Galamsey Fight
The proposals advanced by Mr Hosi present a different perspective on one of Ghana’s most persistent national challenges.
Rather than treating illegal mining exclusively as a law-enforcement problem, his approach places economic incentives, technology, environmental accountability and community livelihoods at the centre of the solution.
The proposed increase in gold recovery to 95 per cent is particularly significant because it offers the possibility of improving miners’ earnings while reducing the environmental footprint of mining operations.
However, achieving such a transformation would require substantial investment, effective regulation, transparent financing arrangements and sustained commitment from government, industry players and mining communities.
It would also require a change in how national progress is assessed.
For Mr Hosi, the ultimate measure of success should not be the number of excavators confiscated or mining sites raided, but the restoration of polluted rivers, the reclamation of degraded lands, the protection of forest reserves and the emergence of a safer, more productive and accountable mining industry.
His vision is of a Ghana where small-scale mining contributes to national development without sacrificing the environment or the future of communities.
The central message is that Ghana must move beyond temporary disruptions and confront the economic structures that continue to sustain illegal mining.
“We can win the fight against galamsey but only by changing how we fight, measuring outcomes and refusing to mistake activity for progress,” Mr Hosi said.
Ultimately, the challenge confronting Ghana is no longer simply how to stop illegal miners, but how to build a mining system in which protecting the environment becomes more profitable than destroying it.
Source: capitalnewsonline.com
