Under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), before any company or individual begins mining operations, there are several legal prerequisites and one of which is obtaining the necessary Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Permit and Operating Permit from the Mineral Commission.
Beside the Mineral and Mining Act explicitly stating the need for the EPA permit, Operating permit, and ongoing court of arbitration proceedings with all relevant parties served accordingly, Heath Goldfields has illegally gone ahead to re- mine the old tailings dam materials and hauling from the already pre strip pit opposite the Bondaye Shaft without any consequence from the relevant Authorities and Agencies.
Per the Minerals and Mining Act 2006 (Act 703) section 18 ( read with the Environmental Assessment Regulations, L.I.1652 of 1999) and I quote
18 (1) “ Before undertaking an activity or operation under a mineral right, the holder of the mineral right shall obtain the necessary approval and permit required from the Forestry Commission and Environmental Protection Agency for the protection of natural resources, public health and the environment.”
18(2) “ Without limiting subsection (1), a holder of a mineral right shall comply with the regulations made under the Act and any other enactment for the protection of the environment in so far as relates to exploitation of minerals.”
Subject to Section(2) of the Act 703, L.I.2182 which is Health, Safety and Technical regulations has it in Regulation 2 with its heading – Requirements for Operating Permit and its states that and I quote “ A person shall not engage in mining or processing of minerals without obtaining an Operating permit from the Chief Inspector of Mines”
This means the Operating permit functions as the final authorisation before the mining can begin after all other approvals (EPA, Mining Lease, etc. ) are in place.
Current happenings on Bogoso/Prestea mine site
Heath Goldfields have resorted to propaganda and PR gimmicks about starting operations and paying all debts owe workers. The real facts are as follows:
The underground is still flooded, and the current water level is 108ft below 18level as at 20/10/2025
All the active mining areas at 17level and 24level including key installations are buried in the flood water.
Apart from the Shaft men, few pump attendant, and supporting technicians nothing is happening at Prestea underground (PUG).
On the plant , some of the parts and component of the BIOS plant have been cannibalised and sand blasted to fix the CIL plant, with the main focus of turning the plant to prove to the Mineral Commission of milling before the 120days deadline despite the many challenges on the plants which need major overhaul.
Without EPA and Operating permit, they are hauling free digging material from Bondaye shaft area which will open more conduit for underground flooding.
They have gone ahead to also start mining the old tailings dam against the Mines Inspectors conditions of raising the dam or building a new Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) before any tailings re- mining can be done.
No explosive permits to transport explosives and to blast any heading both surface and underground.
In relation to the payment of workers’ compensations, only the salaries arrears that occurred because of the non-operation of the Mine from February 2024 to September 2024 period have been paid.
The workers Severance, Managers salaries (February-September 2024), In lieu, Provident fund, bonus( 13th Month),Leave liability, End of contract benefits and Repatriation have not been paid until date.
This shows a company which does not understand Mining and uses PR gimmicks to get the community on its side whilst the Mine continues to deteriorate and most of the workforce remained unemployed.
To address some of the false narratives being peddled by the Managing Director of Heath Goldfields and published in various print and electronic media platforms about investing over USD75 million in preparatory and infrastructure works covering refurbishment of key mining facilities, payment of outstanding workers’ wages and settlement of legacy debt.
Now let’s look at the key infrastructure on the Mine and the claim USD75 million being used by Heath Goldfields:
The processing plant has only seen some components and portions of rust on the tanks sand blasted and defective parts and components on the CIL plant are being replaced by cannibalising the BIOS plant components and reconditioning it for used on the CIL plant.
The steel balls, lime and cyanide were ordered and delivered to site when the Mine was not in operation and Heath claimed to have bought carbon. I must say the Processing plant needs a complete overhauling of certain Component from a complete installation of crushers to Gold room works.
The more reason why the claim of USD75 cannot be true is that most of the major components and parts that needed replacement were not readily available on the shelves of the manufacturers and the least lead time was 6 months but the Minister gave Heath Goldfields stop work notice on the 5th July 2025 so when was these orders placed, delivered to site and fixed for test run.
The Focus of Heath Goldfields is by whatever means turn the plant as the 120days issued by the Minister approaches by mining the old TSF material, bypass the crusher and feed the tailings material directly to turn the mill.
The emphasis must be made that most of the parts and components were taken either from the stores, salvage yard and reconditioned for use or from the BIOS plant.
On Tailings Storage Facility( TSF) uplift, the engineer of records Knight Piesold has not been paid and currently not on site. The rise of the embankment is on hold and few equipment clearing the footprint of the embankment.
On Prestea Underground (PUG), The 17level and 24level working area with its key installations and equipment is still buried in the flood water and not accessible to even work on it or replace them so what was the USD75 million spent on or just throwing figures around to create impression of investing in the Mine whilst in fact nothing is being purchased.
Heath Goldfields re-conditioned the FGR 8-stage Donlee pump and 9- Stage Weir pump and only bought 90kw submersible pump because the FGR 90kw pump is flooded at the shaft bottom. This shows that little investment was made in pumping.
VRA and GRIDCO continue to write to FGR every month for its to settle its debts so was it some gentle agreement with powers that be at these institutions that got them to turn the power on because the amount we are talking about here is really huge.
FGR continues to make payments to SNNIT per the agreed payment plan every month and Heath Goldfields has not made a single payment to SNNIT even on the 8 months payment they claim to have paid, and authorities are watching.
All company accommodation at Bogoso site, Bogoso town site, and Prestea have not seen any work but for the Plant administration which has seen some form of painting with a leaking roof.
Apart from the 3 cars they brought to site which are always parked, Heath Goldfields continue to use FGR vehicles and heavy-duty trucks.
On workers entitlement, Heath Goldfields have paid 8 months’ salary totaling about USD7million that was accrued due to the non-operation of the Mine from February to September 2024 when all workers contract was terminated.
The Managers were only paid 2 months, and the rest of the 6 months have not been paid. They tried to pay the provident fund but as we speak a small number of workers have received payment and most of the workforce have not received same as of today.
To put everything in context it must be put on records that cause of agitation by the union against FGR concerning their entitlement have not been paid and these entitlements are Severance package, SNNIT, Managers 6 months salary arrears, In lieu, Provident fund, Bonus, Leave liability, End of contract benefits and Repatriation have not been paid as of today.
On the issue of USD7 million Mineral rights, a reconciliation was carried out between the FGR representative and the Mineral Commission and it turns out FGR have paid more for the period, and it was the Mineral Commission that was rather owing FGR with receipt of acknowledgement of this fact by the Commission in writing.
So, you cannot go and misappropriate someone’s property and peddle falsehood because this would have formed part of the Sales and Purchase agreement.
On the issue of almost dewatering of the Prestea Underground, The water level needs to go below 24.5level to be able to access the loading pocket at 24.5level and to be able to skip you need the water level to be approaching 25level to prevent the skip from entering water during skipping. As of 20th October 2025, the water level is 108ft below 18level.
So, who are they deceiving the Mine Inspectors or do they want to destroy the shaft members with lies and keep them in water.
The Managing Director went ahead to mention that Heath Goldfield is 90% Ghanaian-owned. The question is who owns the 10%? The government of Ghana, with such lease not ratified by Parliament of Ghana and no Sales and Purchase agreement in place.
The MD equally failed to list any institution that provided funds they claim to have invested in the Mine. Do we then have to assume that private investors provided all the USD75 Million they claim to have spent. In fact, the owners of Heath Goldfields needs to be investigated for the source of their funds and money laundering in any serious jurisdiction.
From all the points I have listed above clearly shows no such amount of USD75 million peddled around could have been invested in Bogoso/Prestea Mine and the mine is in debt. Heath Goldfields continue with its publicity and PR gimmicks whilst the real work of bringing the Mine back to life suffers. The Bogoso/ Prestea community should understand that Prestea is underground and Underground is Prestea.
About the Author
