Though Ghana is blessed with vast mineral resources, it is rare to see a Ghanaian owning a significant concession in the country’s major exploration companies.
This is because most Ghanaians, who are the original owners of mining concessions, end up selling them to foreigners, either willingly or because they are forced to. However, one man has braved all pressures to retain his mining concession.
Ben Nunoo Mensah, a businessman and President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), owns 10% of the Barari DV lithium concession, which made headlines after experts raised concerns that the 13% royalties the government was receiving from the exploration of the lithium, dubbed ‘the white gold,’ were not sufficient.
Speaking in an interview on GhanaWeb TV’s ‘The Lowdown’, Nunoo Mensah detailed how he acquired the mining concession and the pressures he is under to sell the 10% of the lithium concession he owns after selling 90% of the concession to investors.
He said that he originally acquired the concession for gold exploration but later discovered that it also had commercial deposits of lithium.
“Actually, that is a concession I’ve had since 2011, and it was acquired for gold mining. But when geological reports from the Mineral Commission revealed lithium deposits there, that created a need to assess the viability of mining gold or lithium.
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“So, the next step was to consult geologists to determine which of the two minerals would be more viable to mine. That’s where the journey started. I had a geologist friend who mentioned that he could bring in some strategic partners from Australia to conduct a scoping study and find out how viable the lithium deposit was compared to the gold. He introduced these Australians to me back in 2016, and that’s where the journey began,” he narrated.
The GOC president said he was excited about starting the exploration of lithium, considering its importance and potential benefits for Ghana.
“There was a lot of excitement at the beginning, and I’m still very excited about it because, as you know, lithium is now a strategic mineral. It has a lot of value, and if well structured, could benefit Ghana as a whole. And when I say well structured, it must be mined according to the right mining laws,” he said.
He noted that the country’s existing mining laws have not served the interests of the people of Ghana and need to be revised. He pointed to communities in Ghana where gold and other minerals are mined but remain in a very poor state.
The businessman also highlighted that the country’s mining laws are one of the reasons Ghanaians sell their mining concessions to foreigners.
“All the big mining companies that you see in Ghana, and all the concessions they now own, were at one point 100% owned by Ghanaians. Over time, these foreign companies have been able to twist the arms of Ghanaians and then kick them out of any equity holding indigenous to our own country,” he said.
He added, “Laws are not structured in such a way that they protect Ghanaian interests. They could easily take advantage of those laws and edge Ghanaians out. I mean, I’m a 10% shareholder in Barari. I know what I’m going through with people trying to muscle in and get you out.”
Watch the full interview below:
