Ghana to probe Australian mine theft, question Shaanxi officials

The Ghanaian Minerals Commission will investigate the alleged theft of millions of dollars worth of gold from an Australian mine in Africa by a Chinese state-linked company.

Officials at the Chinese miner Shaanxi will also be questioned by the Ghanaian Minister for Natural Resources Samuel Jinapor after the deaths of dozens of local miners in the mine’s pits in northern Ghana.

The probe follows an investigation into the alleged theft and deaths by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that revealed Cassius was suing the Ghanaian government for $395 million and that community leaders and victims’ families had accused Shaanxi of murdering local miners to stop them entering their territory. Shaanxi denies the allegations.

In a joint statement, Jinapor, Minerals Commission chief executive Martin Ayisi and James Arkoudis, the chief executive of Australian miner Cassius said they had a productive meeting on the sidelines of the Africa Down Under Conference in Perth on Friday following “reports about the operations of Cassius mining limited and the alleged trespass on their concession by Shaanxi Mining Limited”.

“The purpose of the meeting was to engage officials on the matters contained in the widely circulated media reports on a without prejudice basis,” the statement said.

“The minister is scheduled to engage officials of Shaanxi and other related parties in the coming days on this matter.”

Minerals Commission officials were seen arriving at the Shaanxi site on Friday morning. The company rebranded as Earl International following the deaths of 16 local miners from poisonous gasses in one incident in January 2019. It was granted a mining licence for an area 50 times its original size last year.

Human rights campaigner and Third World Network-Africa coordinator Yao Graham said the situation had been fuelled by corruption and a “complete disregard of constitutional guarantees”.

“These acts of impunity have been aided by the indulgent silence of politicians, public officers and institutions that should defend and advance rights, and accountability of all,” he said.

In Talensi, northern Ghana, where the Shaanxi and Cassius mines are located, anger has been growing in the local community. West African security analyst Adam Bonaa said the situation was volatile.

“A day will come when the people [will] rise up,” he said. “They will rise up against everybody including the traditional leaders and government.”

The families of victims said they planned to protest outside the Chinese state-linked mine in the coming days.