Accra, Aug. 8, GNA - Government on Friday inaugurated a five-member committee to study the state of illegal mining (galamsey) and recommend ways to streamline the practice.

The committee will also determine the possibility of ceding off portions of economically unviable concessions of large-scale miners to galamsey operators.

Ms Esther Obeng Dappah, Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, who inaugurated the committee in Accra, said despite the enormous contribution of small-scale miners to the economy, the sector was bedevilled with some challenges, which were affecting its development.

She noted that apart from the negative consequences that galamsey operators faced, many of them were unregistered and thereby making their operations not only illegal but also falling short of best practices. Ms Dappah said the Ministry had received reports that foreigners, including West Africans and Chinese, were involved in illegal mining activities in parts of the country.

She said as measures to address the problem, the Ministry was engaging in demarcating of lands for licensing, providing financial support to needy and organised small-scale mining groups and encouraging miners to form co-operatives to take advantage of government support. The committee, which is chaired by Mrs Rita Tani Iddi, Deputy Minister Lands, Forestry and Mines, has three weeks to present its report.

The committee will among other things recommend mechanisms for identification and eviction of non-Ghanaian illegal miners from operating in these areas, identify the major galamsey-prone areas in and around the Obuasi, Tarkwa, Bogoso, Abosso, Assin Fosu areas.