Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has signalled a tougher stance on mining lease renewals, warning that the government may no longer view favourably situations where companies secure lease extensions only to sell the assets shortly afterwards.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Dr Forson said recent developments in the mining sector had raised important policy concerns about the purpose of lease renewals and whether they are being used to facilitate continued mining operations or to create opportunities for lucrative asset sales.

Citing a recent transaction involving Newmont, the Finance Minister noted that a mining lease was renewed and reportedly sold within a month for approximately one billion dollars.

Although the state benefited from the applicable capital gains tax, he questioned whether such arrangements align with the original intent behind granting lease extensions.

“We renewed it; the following month, they sold it for a billion dollars and only paid capital gains after the state,” he said.

According to Dr Forson, the government expects companies seeking lease renewals to continue operating and investing in the sector rather than treating renewed concessions as assets for immediate resale.

“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.

His remarks come amid ongoing discussions over the future of the Tarkwa Mine, one of Ghana’s most valuable mining assets, whose current lease arrangement is approaching its expiration.

The mine, which was originally state-owned, was leased to a foreign operator for a 30-year period and is expected to revert to the state upon the expiry of the agreement.

Dr Forson revealed that government is considering whether the concession should return to the State Mining Company or whether an extension should be granted to the current operator. He indicated that a final decision is expected before the end of the year.

“There is a conversation around whether we revert it back to the State Mining Company or allow the company to extend the lease,” he noted.

“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.”

The Finance Minister also defended recent reforms introduced in the mining sector, including a sliding-scale royalty system aimed at increasing state revenues during periods of elevated gold prices.

He explained that the approach enables Ghana to benefit more fairly from windfall gains generated by rising commodity prices.

“We introduced the sliding scale to be able to capture the economic rent,” he said.

Dr Forson maintained that the reforms were developed in consultation with industry stakeholders and form part of broader efforts to ensure Ghana derives greater long-term value from its natural resources while maintaining an attractive environment for investment.

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Lease renewals not opportunity to sell property – Ato Forson

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