The Minerals Commission of Ghana has indicated that it has upgraded its systems to track every heavy-duty mining machine operating anywhere in the country.

The setup forms part of Ghana’s latest technological push to combat illegal mining, with authorities now relying on real-time tracking systems to monitor excavators and other equipment nationwide.

Consultant on the project, Dr Sylvester Akpah, says the system is already actively tracking more than a thousand machines across mining sites.

“As we speak now, we are tracking about 1,400 machines at the moment… we've registered over 2,500 machines now,” he said.

According to him, each excavator is digitally assigned to a specific licensed mining concession, allowing authorities to monitor movements with precision.

The system is designed to trigger automatic shutdowns when equipment moves outside approved operational zones.

“If the machine goes out of its defined concession, the machine automatically cuts off,” he explained.

Dr Akpah said the innovation is aimed at reducing reliance on manual enforcement, which has long been vulnerable to inefficiencies and corruption.

“We have automated the track… the tracker has been customised so much that it listens or responds to the concession area it has been configured with,” he added.

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NA/VPO