Lawyer for Engineers and Planners (E&P), Bobby Banson, has dismissed claims that Gold Fields had ceased mining operations at the Damang mine, describing such assertions as factually incorrect.
Speaking on the Newsfile programme on JoyNews on Saturday, April 11, he insisted that the narrative being circulated was misleading and did not reflect the operational realities of the mine.
“There are a lot of factual inaccuracies in what has been said by Mr Simons. Gold Fields didn’t stop mining. That statement is not true,” he said.
He explained that mining operations are guided by structured mine plans, adding that material is often stockpiled after blasting before being processed.
“Every mine has a mine plan. So you blast a rock, you put them there, and there is something they call a stockpile before they feed into the machine for the gold,” Banson, a lawyer and lecturer at the Ghana School of Law in Makola, stated.
His comments come in the wake of the Ministry’s recent approval of the Damang Mining Lease to Engineers and Planners after what officials described as a rigorous and competitive bidding process.
In a press release issued on April 7, 2026, the sector minister, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, confirmed that he had accepted the recommendations of a specialised Tender Committee, which selected E&P as the most suitable entity to extend the mine’s lifespan beyond the next decade.
The decision has, however, sparked public debate, particularly due to concerns over perceived conflicts of interest, as Engineers and Planners is owned by the brother of the President.
The development continues to generate political and industry scrutiny as stakeholders await further clarification on the leasing process and its implications for Ghana’s mining sector.
