Gold Fields Ghana escalates Tarkwa disputes over land intrusion and EPA review

Pinned summary · as of 05:28

Gold Fields Ghana Limited is pressing officials on two fronts over its Tarkwa operation. On Thursday, 17 September, it told the Western Regional Minister, Joseph Nelson, that groups were occupying parts of its concession, and NorvanReports later reported that the company had taken its objections to a planned Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) assessment to government ministers and, on 28 September, to court.

What we know

• Gold Fields Ghana Limited has carried complaints about its Tarkwa operation to senior government figures: it briefed the Western Regional Minister on intrusions onto its concession, and it also sent a letter to the lands and natural resources minister over a planned regulatory assessment.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  During Mr Nelson's visit to the mine, security manager Isaac Samani alleged that a group brought an excavator and a bulldozer onto land close to Badukrom and Wangarakrom and took over part of the mining lease, calling it a cooperative mine. He said the company had been given no paperwork or notice, and that about twenty police officers at the site could not cope, so the Regional Police Commander sent reinforcements who cleared the group. Only Onua Online has reported this account.
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  Mr Samani further alleged that the intruders now return after dark under the watch of armed men he likened to militia-style bandits. He said he feared a threatened officer might fire in self-defence, and that the company was still talking to the parties to prevent shootings. He added that, unlike some other mines, Gold Fields' Tarkwa site had recorded no fatal shootings involving soldiers, police and community members. These points are his own and have not been independently verified.
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  Mr Nelson told the company that the activities Mr Samani described were illegal and fell outside the rules for cooperative mining, which he said is tightly regulated with a set process for approving a site. He said the Goldfields land is not among the few proposals still under review, advised the firm to use the protections available to it, and promised that the Regional Security Council would help keep order. This comes from Onua Online alone.
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  NorvanReports said that, according to correspondence it had seen, Gold Fields declined to attend an inception meeting on 25 September for an EPA assessment of the mine after the regulator refused a request for seven more working days. In a letter dated 24 September, managing director Elliot Twum described the review as of extraordinary scope, said the company meant no disrespect and was awaiting responses from two ministers, and reserved the right to challenge the legality of the EPA's directives.
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  NorvanReports also reported that Gold Fields filed a judicial review application against the EPA at the High Court in Accra on 28 September. According to the report, the company wants the court to declare that the EPA lacks statutory power to require the assessment, to void the regulator's 14 September letter, to bar further steps and to award costs. No hearing date appeared on the copy NorvanReports saw. The EPA's side is not given in the report.
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  NorvanReports said the case comes while Gold Fields seeks renewal of its Tarkwa leases, which expire in 2027, and that the government has signalled renewal will not be automatic. The company argues the assessment grew out of an earlier talk about a closure-cost audit and lacks a proper legal basis, and says its Tarkwa site has carried ISO 14001 environmental certification for 23 years, alongside cyanide-management certification held for 18. The report is the only source for these points.
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  The EPA said it is shifting from periodic inspections to round-the-clock oversight and enforcement in mining, according to NorvanReports, which also reported that Cardinal Namdini Mining received a notice ahead of possible closure after an alleged tailings pipeline incident it did not report, an intervention at Earl International Group, and a review of an inspection report on Tarkwa.
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  In its own commentary, NorvanReports argued that a company's objection does not remove the EPA's power to examine mining's effects, that ministerial involvement should not weaken the regulator, and that a comprehensive assessment is not a finding of wrongdoing.

Why it matters for Ghana

Communities such as Badukrom and Wangarakrom live beside the concession, so the question of who may lawfully work the land, and how armed groups are handled, bears directly on their safety. The court case tests how far the EPA may go in reviewing a large mine's environmental, resettlement and closure duties, which matters to residents affected by mining. It also lands as the company seeks to renew leases due to expire in 2027.