Steve Manteaw: Opposition to Gold Fields lease renewal “ill-informed”

Natural Resource Governance Expert Dr. Steve Manteaw has criticised calls for the non-renewal of Gold Fields’ mining lease for the Tarkwa Mine, describing such demands as “misplaced and completely ill-informed.”

In a Facebook post on Thursday, May 14, Dr. Manteaw urged caution in the ongoing debate surrounding the future of the mining lease, following recent calls by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) for government to reject Gold Fields’ application for a 20-year extension.

“Calls for the non-renewal of Goldfields’ lease is misplaced and completely ill-informed. Let’s be careful,” Dr. Manteaw stated.

His comments come after the IEA issued a statement urging the Government of Ghana not to renew the lease for the Tarkwa Mine, arguing that extending the agreement would not serve the country’s long-term economic and national interests.

The policy think tank expressed concern over comments by Gold Fields CEO Mike Fraser, who disclosed that the company had formally applied for a 20-year extension ahead of the current lease’s expiration in April 2027.

According to the IEA, Gold Fields has been engaging government officials and traditional authorities in Tarkwa in pursuit of approval for the extension. The institute described the proposed renewal as “deeply inimical” to Ghana’s strategic interests and instead called for greater Ghanaian ownership and control of the mine.

The IEA further argued that despite decades of foreign participation in Ghana’s mining industry, the country has not realised significant transformative development from its mineral wealth. It cited the continued underdevelopment of mining communities and what it described as low fiscal returns from the extractive sector.

The institute also maintained that the current mining regime remains rooted in colonial-era concessionary structures that favour foreign mining firms over national interests.

However, Dr. Manteaw’s intervention signals a differing perspective within the natural resource governance space, as discussions intensify over the future of one of Ghana’s largest mining operations.