HISTORY & EVOLUTION OF GALAMSEY

The History & Evolution of Small-Scale Mining in Ghana

Before Independence (Pre-1957)

Small-scale gold mining in Ghana has deep historical roots; dating back centuries before colonial rule.
Long before Europeans arrived, local people in areas like Obuasi, Tarkwa, Dunkwa, Prestea, Wassa, Axim, and Asante Akyem were already extracting gold from rivers and shallow pits.

Gold dust was used as a medium of exchange, for jewelry, and as a symbol of wealth and power among Akan chiefs. Oral traditions and archaeological records show that:

Communities used simple tools such as wooden pans, clay pots, hoes, and digging sticks.
Miners collected alluvial gold from riverbeds and floodplains.
Women often played a central role in washing and panning the gold.

Gold from Ghana (then known as the Gold Coast) was so abundant that the Portuguese and later the British made the coast one of the busiest trading regions in West Africa.

Colonial Period

When the British established colonial control, they saw the potential for commercial mining.
They granted large concessions to foreign companies such as:

Ashanti Goldfields Corporation (AGC) at Obuasi (1897)
Gold Coast Main Reef Ltd at Tarkwa
Abosso Gold Mining Company at Wassa

These companies were given exclusive rights, pushing local miners to the margins.
The colonial laws required licenses and concessions, which were expensive and difficult for local people to obtain.

As a result, many indigenous miners continued mining illegally, outside the colonial framework, marking the early beginnings of what would later be called “galamsey.”

Post-Independence (1957 – 1980s)

After independence, President Kwame Nkrumah’s government nationalized major mining companies and created the State Gold Mining Corporation (SGMC) to control gold production.
However, local small-scale miners were not formally recognized under mining laws.

Mining continued informally in gold-rich areas such as:

Dunkwa-on-Offin
Prestea
Tarkwa
Bibiani
Konongo
Wassa Akropong
Ayanfuri
Ankobra Basin communities

Miners still used picks, shovels, metal pans, and locally made sluice boxes, with little mechanization.
They sold gold through informal middlemen who smuggled it across borders to Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria — avoiding state taxes and oversight.

This informal gold trade grew because state gold-buying arrangements were weak, and small-scale miners lacked legal recognition.

The Birth of PMMC and Legalization (1980s – 1990s)

In 1989, Ghana passed two key laws:

The Small-Scale Gold Mining Law (PNDCL 218)
The Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation Law (PNDCL 219)

These laws officially recognized small-scale mining and sought to regulate gold buying and selling.

The Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation (PMMC) was established to:

Buy gold and diamonds from small-scale miners at official prices
Prevent smuggling and loss of foreign exchange
Assay, hallmark, and export gold for sale
Promote local jewelry manufacturing

How PMMC Operated:

It set up buying centers in towns like Dunkwa, Tarkwa, Bibiani, and Konongo.
Licensed agents purchased gold directly from small-scale miners.
PMMC earned commissions from exports and paid miners cash on delivery.

Profitability & Challenges:

In the early years, PMMC helped reduce smuggling and captured more gold for the state.
However, over time, low official prices, bureaucracy, and delays in payments made many miners revert to illegal buyers who offered better rates.
By the 2000s, private licensed buying agents and black-market traders had taken over much of the trade.

Evolution and Expansion (2000s – 2010s)

The 2000s saw an explosion in small-scale mining activities:

Rising global gold prices made mining highly profitable.
Thousands of youth entered mining communities like Tarkwa, Obuasi, Dunkwa, Wassa, Bibiani, and Asankragua.
More powerful tools appeared; changfa machines (portable dredges), excavators, mercury, and metal detectors.
Foreign miners, especially from China, joined the business, introducing mechanized operations that devastated river bodies and farmlands.

These developments blurred the line between small-scale mining and full-scale industrial extraction — giving rise to modern “galamsey.”

Recent Era (2013 – Present)

The government’s response has swung between crackdowns and reforms:

Operation Vanguard (2017) – military taskforce to stop illegal mining.
Operation Halt II (2021) – renewed clampdown on river dredging.
Community Mining Scheme (2019–present) – designed to legalize and organize small-scale miners under strict environmental rules.

Despite these efforts:

Illegal mining persists in almost every gold-bearing region; Western, Central, Ashanti, Eastern, and Upper East.
Water bodies like Pra, Offin, and Ankobra remain heavily polluted.
PMMC, now GOLDBOD, continues to play a role, now focusing more on gold export certification and refining, though private sector competition has reduced its dominance.

Economic & Social Implications

Positive: small-scale mining employs over 1 million Ghanaians directly, creating livelihoods in poor communities.
Negative: uncontrolled mining causes deforestation, pollution, loss of farmland, and rising insecurity.
Financial leakage: billions of cedis in untaxed gold continue to leave Ghana through smuggling.

The Future of Small-Scale Mining

The future lies in:

Formalization: making it easier for small miners to get licenses.
Responsible mining practices: training and monitoring on mercury-free technologies.
Community empowerment: giving local people a stake in resource governance.
Data transparency: initiatives like www.galamseydata.com to track impacts and inform policy.

In Summary

Small-scale mining in Ghana has evolved from a traditional livelihood into a complex economic and environmental challenge.
What began with pans and shovels has become a multi-billion cedi industry, sometimes undermining the very communities it was meant to uplift.
The story of galamsey is, therefore, a story of hope, survival, neglect, and the urgent need for responsible governance.