Protecting Ghana’s Mineral Rights Regime: Policy Reflections on the Akonta Mining Judgment

Unlawful operational arrangements may constitute serious regulatory breaches or criminal offences under other provisions of the Minerals and Mining Act without necessarily amounting to an assignment of the mineral right under section 14, particularly when the signature of the minister is not obtained.

It concerns whether permitting a third party to undertake mining activities within an existing concession constitutes an assignment or encumbrance of a mineral right under section 14 or, instead, amounts to unlawful operational conduct attracting liability under other provisions of the Act, testing all the complimentary actions prerequisite for criminal trial.

Interpreting operational misconduct as constituting a legally effective assignment risks expanding the scope of section 14 beyond the statutory framework established by Parliament and could have significant implications for the administration of mineral rights across the sector.