"The Minerals Commission cannot guarantee that they will not be moved by other legitimate means if they fail to move by the said date," he added. In January , a group of informal miners invaded the Obuasi mine and have been working on the concession of AGA. The decision to relocate the illegal miners follows the work of a Movement Committee to oversee the peaceful exit of the informal miners.

The Committee’s memberships were as follows: Minerals Commission, Adansi Traditional Council, Obuasi Small-Scale Miners Association and Ghana National Small-Scale Miners Association. Other bodies are Obuasi Municipal Assembly, Ghana Police Service and Ghana Chamber of Mines.

Dr Aubynn said the informal miners are to be relocated and formalised on mineralised areas that formed part of the 60 per cent of the original concession area ceded by the Mine to government.

The Obuasi Mine until recently covered a total land area of 485km2 of land, the biggest mining concession. The concession was located within five administrative municipalities/districts: namely Obuasi Municipality, Bekwai Municipality, Amansie Central District, Adansi North District and Adansi South District.

Dr Aubynn said the Movement Committee engaged in stakeholder consultations with key parties that included: Informal Miners occupying AGA concession area, Leadership of the Informal Miners and “Ghetto” Owners and Chiefs and Opinion Leaders of the Lands earmarked for the relocation and Municipal and District Assemblies other than Obuasi Municipal Assembly.

“In all more than 20 meetings and several field visits were made during the six-week period of the committee’s work.

“The Committee met all these relevant stakeholders and engaged them to identify, assess and integrate all concerns for the collective interest of all,” he said.

Dr Aubynn said the engagements also provided the informal miners the opportunity to formalise and work within the confines of the Minerals and Mining Laws of Ghana and belong to cooperatives.