A Chinese national, identified only as Wu, along with five Ghanaian collaborators, has been apprehended for encroaching on the mining concession of Zoar Mining Enterprise in the Twifo Atti-Morkwa District of the Central Region.

The illegal miners, using excavators and other earth-moving equipment, have caused significant damage to over 50 acres of the 120-acre concession owned by the company.

They claimed to be working for a person named Ernest, who is currently evading arrest.

The arrest of these armed miners comes after extensive surveillance conducted by the security personnel of Zoar Mining Enterprise.

The suspects were arrested around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, and subsequently handed over to the Ministries Police in Accra, following directives from officials of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.

Zoar Mining Enterprise was granted a 5-year mining lease, subject to renewal, by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, on November 15, 2023, to mine gold and diamond.

However, prior to commencing operations, the illegal miners had already invaded the concession, with over 40 of them engaging in illegal mining activities.

Nana Akwasi Yentumi Asante, Operations and Sustainability Manager of Zoar Mining Enterprise, expressed satisfaction with the successful operation to remove the illegal miners from the concession.

“The arrest was done by our company's security unit and was calm, well-coordinated, and without any blood flow. We started the ambush at around 1 a.m. today.” he said.

He said Zoar Mining has "lost millions of Ghana cedis” to the illegal mining activities.

“If we were to do our own business, production in the worst-case scenario is between 4kg and 15kg of gold per concession of such nature,” he said.

Appalled by the development, Nana Asante warned the company will do everything possible to protect its concessions, which can rake in more funds into government coffers in taxes.