Accra, Aug. 21, GNA - Ghana's exports of precious minerals generated US$2.335 billion in 2008, an official of the Minerals Commission said on Friday.

"From the list of merchandise exports, minerals exports topped with US$2.335 billion in 2008 and the mining sector also paid GH¢179 million in taxes and royalties for that year.," said Mr James Adjei, Deputy Manager, Monitoring and Evaluations at the Minerals Commission. The taxes and royalties represented 14.2 per cent of total tax revenue of GHC1.2billion.

The mining sector had come under criticism for the adverse impact of its activities on mining communities. Some have also argued that critics pay little attention to the benefits the state rips from the sector.

Speaking at a workshop organised by Newmont Ghana Limited to enlighten Journalists on the Minerals and Mining Law in Ghana, Mr Adjei said the export earnings from minerals compared favourably with that of cocoa, which stood at US$1.4 billion.

Out of the total amount for taxes, GH¢73.5 million comprised corporate taxes from the large scale miners, GH¢47 million in taxes from small scale mining sector and GH¢59 million in royalties. By law, mining companies pay between three to six per cent in taxes depending on the quality of the ore they mine, the amount of mineral extracted from it and the ultimate profits made.

For profit levels less than 30 per cent, the tax component is three per cent, from 30 per cent to 69 per cent profit the tax component is three per cent plus 0.075 per cent and from 70 per cent upwards the tax component is six per cent.

Mr Adjei said, for gold the ore from underground mining yielded between seven to eight ounces per tonne whilst surface mining ore produced between 0.5 and 0.8 ounces per tonne. The mining companies reported an aggregate a billion-dollar operational expenditure being 34 per cent of their export earnings. Mr Adjei said the benefits from the mining sector for Ghanaians laid not in the amount of taxes, royalties and compensation, but in how much of Ghanaians participated in the sector.

"It is about time for Ghanaians to get off the fence and participate actively in the mining sector in order that they will retain greater chunk of the operational expenses in that sector here," he said. 21 Aug 09