Operations at Gan-He Company Limited, a Chinese-owned large-scale mining firm at Abreshia in the Wassa Amenfi East District of the Western Region, have been suspended after the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) ordered the immediate shutdown of its processing plant and underground dewatering operations over alleged persistent environmental violations.
The move is part of the EPA’s nationwide compliance exercise targeting mining companies accused of breaching Ghana’s environmental and mining regulations.
Speaking during the enforcement operation, Deputy Director in charge of Mining Operations at the EPA Headquarters, Harrison Haron Afful, said the company failed to comply with several directives issued after an earlier inspection on January 27, 2026.
According to him, the EPA had previously issued an enforcement notice, imposed a fine, and directed management to undertake remedial measures within one to three months after inspectors uncovered multiple environmental infractions.
However, months after the directives were issued, the company was allegedly still operating under the same conditions.
Mr. Afful revealed that the company was found discharging contaminated water into the external environment, depositing cyanide-laden tailings into an unengineered tailings storage facility, poorly managing sediments around the facility, failing to submit environmental monitoring returns to the Authority, and processing tailings materials without the required environmental permit.
He explained that the continued depositing of tailings has forced the EPA to order the immediate shutdown of the processing plant, while underground dewatering activities have also been halted.
“We were here earlier this year, on 27th January, and we identified certain infractions. As a result, the company was directed to stop its mining and processing activities. We issued an enforcement notice, recommended specific remedial actions with timelines, and also imposed a fine on the company.
To date, the company has failed to implement all the recommendations we made and has also not paid the fine,” he said.
By: Nana Esi Brew Monney
