According to the Minerals Commission, High Street Ghana Limited’s application for a mining license inside the Kakum National Park was denied.
The Commission claims that after the mining firm’s application was deleted from the online mining cadastre, it was not given any thought.
The Minerals Commission emphasized that High Street Ghana Limited’s application will not be handled in a statement obtained by InsightNewsgh.com.
“The Commission wishes to inform the CSOs and the public that the application of High Street Mining Company Limited was rejected and therefore cannot be processed or considered whatsoever. Consequently, the Commission has deleted the application from the online mining cadastre.”
“The Commission wishes to assure the public that no mineral right whether for prospecting or mining shall be considered or granted in the Kakum National Park.”
Thus, it requested that the public ignore any reports to the contrary.
A number of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the nation vehemently opposed, on Friday, November 10, 2023, what they perceived to be an attempt by mining company High Street Ghana Limited to carry out mining operations in the Central Region’s Kakum National Park.
The CSOs emphasized that the Minerals Commission had received 14 applications from different companies requesting permission to mine in forest reserves throughout the nation, of which High Street Ghana Limited’s was one.
The Director of Nature and Development Foundation, Mustapha Seidu, issued a warning on Thursday, November 9, during a stakeholder engagement regarding the new Regulation on Mining in Ghana’s Forest Reserves (LI 2462) 2022. He stated that if the Legislative Instrument (LI 2462) is not revoked, there could be widespread destruction of the nation’s forests.
“As we speak, there are 14 more applications under different stages of consideration by the Minerals Commission, including an application by High Street Ghana Limited to mine in the Kakum National Park,” Mr. Seidu revealed.
He also emphasized that the application was in the validation stage and that it would cover roughly 24% of the reserve based on the concession map that was provided.
Concerned about the possible repercussions, Mr. Seidu asked interested parties to take immediate action, saying, “If in less than one year of coming into force of LI 2462, we are seeing this massive legal destruction of our forest, we can imagine what will happen in the next five years or decade.”
