Ghana has been urged to draw lessons from the artisanal and small-scale mining formalisation programmes of Colombia, Mongolia, Peru and Tanzania as the government intensifies efforts to organise the country's informal mining sector.

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, identified the four countries as examples of how informal miners can be organised into legally recognised groups and supported to undertake responsible mining.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, October 31, 2026, Mr Gyamfi outlined the approaches adopted by the countries, noting that their experiences offer valuable lessons for Ghana's Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP).

According to him, the different approaches demonstrate how governments can transition informal miners into the legal mining sector through registration, cooperative arrangements, licensing and technical support.

**Lessons from Colombia and Mongolia**

Colombia introduced Law 2250 in 2022 to establish a special framework for the legalisation and formalisation of artisanal and small-scale miners.

Under Article 4 of the law, traditional miners are required to submit applications through the Comprehensive Mining System to begin the formalisation process. The framework also provides protection from criminal prosecution for unauthorised mining for traditional miners who apply for formalisation, in accordance with Permanent Directive 2014 of the Ministry of Defence.

Mongolia, on the other hand, revised its artisanal and small-scale mining regulations in 2017 to allow informal miners, popularly known as "Ninja miners", to operate legally.

The process involved identifying and documenting miners before organising them into partnerships and cooperatives that could be recognised as legal mining operators.

Mr Gyamfi also cited a June 2012 case study by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which observed that Mongolia's legal framework had increasingly recognised the contribution of artisanal and small-scale gold mining to rural economic development and employment creation.

**Peru and Tanzania's approaches**

Peru established the Comprehensive Registry for Mining Formalisation (REINFO) in 2012 to collect and verify the identities and mining details of informal artisanal and small-scale miners.

The country has since taken steps to review the status of miners on the register and transition eligible operators into a new legal framework.

In Tanzania, the government adopted a system involving the identification and registration of eligible miners, allocation of recognised mining areas and issuance of Primary Mining Licences to qualified operators.

The initiative received a significant boost in 2016 under former President John Magufuli, whose administration directed the creation of more mining opportunities for existing informal miners.

The exercise resulted in the formation of more than 5,000 mining groups, while the government also provided geological and technical assistance and established model artisanal and small-scale mining centres and mercury-free processing facilities.

A 2023 report by the Tanzania Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative further confirmed the existence of 29 designated small-scale mining areas across six zones.

**Ghana's formalisation agenda**

Drawing on these experiences, Mr Gyamfi described rCOMSDEP as a major step towards formalising Ghana's artisanal and small-scale mining sector.

The programme seeks to register eligible informal miners into cooperatives under the Department of Cooperatives and equip them with skills in sustainable mining, mercury-free processing, land reclamation and environmentally responsible mining practices.

It also aims to facilitate the formalisation and licensing of registered cooperatives within six months, after which they will be directed to suitable mineralised areas approved by the relevant regulatory institutions.

Mr Gyamfi disclosed that the programme had received Cabinet approval and had been provided for in the Amendment Bill to the Minerals and Mining Act, which is currently before Parliament.

He stressed that miners operating in areas covered by existing mineral rights, or in locations where their activities could threaten water bodies, forest reserves and communities, would not qualify for registration.

He said the experiences of Colombia, Mongolia, Peru and Tanzania showed that Ghana could strengthen its own formalisation efforts by combining legal recognition with technical assistance, environmental safeguards and effective regulation.

Mr Gyamfi called for bipartisan support and contributions from industry stakeholders, civil society organisations, religious bodies, opinion leaders and the general public to ensure the successful implementation of the programme.

He maintained that properly organised small-scale mining could improve mineral recovery, enhance safety, protect the environment, create employment and strengthen Ghana's foreign exchange reserves.

Story by: Andre Mustapha Nii Okai Inusah
Popularly Known As: Attractive Mustapha
Email: attractivemustapha@gmail.com
Contact Number 0244259564