Abstract
This chapter aims to discuss the social, health and environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Ghana in the context of sustainability vis-à-vis voluntary sustainability standards (VSS). Mining has played a crucial role in the development of human civilisation; in part by providing precious metals such as gold and silver, which are coveted by many cultures. Such was the value placed upon them that they were used as a universal currency for almost three millennia, stimulating global trade growth (Hruschka and Echavarría 2011).
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Notes
- 1.
For details on the UNIDO’s Mercury Programme and the Global Mercury Project, see UNIDO (2013) and https://www.unido.org/mercury/about-us, last accessed 31 January 2019.
- 2.
AKOBEN is not an acronym, rather a reference to Ghanaian cultural symbolism.
- 3.
General Assembly resolution 1803 (XVII) of 14 December 1962, “Permanent sovereignty over natural resources”, U.N. GAOR, 17th sess., Supp. no. 17, p. 15, U.N. Doc. A/5217 (1962).
- 4.
Minerals and Mining Law, 1986 (PNDC Law 153) provided the general legislative framework for mining in Ghana; it established the royalty and corporate tax rates in the mining industry. The 1994 and 2005 amendments focused on revising the corporate tax and royalty rates and limiting the duration for mining lease (Mensah et al. 2015).
- 5.
Small-Scale Gold Mining Law, 1989 (PNDC Law 218) regulated the registration and licensing of small-scale gold miners as well as the establishment of support centres (District Small-Scale Gold Mining Centres) by the Minerals Commission for the purpose of monitoring, supervising and advising small-scale gold mining operations.
- 6.
Mercury Law, 1989 (PNDC Law 217) legalised the purchase of mercury from authorised sellers for purposes of gold production.
- 7.
Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation Law, 1989 (PNDC Law 219) provided official marketing paths for small-scale gold and diamond miners and promoted trade in precious metals, diamonds, and jewellery in and outside Ghana (Mensah et al. 2015).
- 8.
Environmental Assessment Regulation, 1999 (LI 1652) provides the necessary specific and complete legal backing for EIA system in Ghana.
- 9.
A contraction of the phrase ‘gather them and sell’ used in reference to illegal, unlicensed and informal artisanal and small-scale mining.
- 10.
Governing legislation for Ghana’s minerals sector.
- 11.
The main policy goal of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme is to provide opportunity for every school-age child in Ghana to receive quality basic education.
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Bedu-Addo, K., Palekhov, D., Smyth, D.J., Schmidt, M. (2019). Responsible Gold Mining at the Artisanal and Small-Scale Level: A Case Study of Ghana. In: Schmidt, M., Giovannucci, D., Palekhov, D., Hansmann, B. (eds) Sustainable Global Value Chains. Natural Resource Management in Transition, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14877-9_29
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