Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has served notice that Ghana will no longer treat mining lease renewals as a routine gateway for companies to flip assets, signalling a tougher stance as government prepares to decide the future of the strategic Tarkwa Mine.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Dr. Forson cited a recent transaction involving Newmont, in which a renewed mining lease was sold for approximately one billion dollars shortly after extension, a deal he described as contrary to the intent of the renewal process.
“We renewed it; the following month they sold it for a billion dollars and only paid capital gains after the state
While acknowledging that the state collected its due revenues from the transaction, the minister was categorical that such arrangements would face scrutiny going forward.
“You can’t just renew your lease and sell it the following month. The intention out there was for us to renew the lease for them to continue in business,” he added.
The remarks carry direct implications for the Tarkwa Mine, one of Ghana’s most valuable gold assets, which is approaching the end of its lease cycle. The mine was originally state-owned before being leased to a foreign operator for a 30-year period, and discussions are now underway over whether the lease should be extended or the asset returned to state control.
“There is a conversation around whether we revert it back to the State Mining Company or allow the company to extend the lease,” Dr. Forson said, adding that government intends to conclude the matter before year-end.
“As I said, we have up to April next year, almost one year. And our intention is to have that conversation to the end of the year. And so before 2026, we’ll have some agreement.”
Dr. Forson also defended the sliding-scale royalty regime introduced to capture additional economic rent during periods of elevated gold prices.
“We introduced the sliding scale to be able to capture the economic rent,” he said, noting that the reforms were developed in consultation with industry players.
