Gold Sector: 53 Permits Revoked for Non-Compliance with Mining Code

Among the sanctioned operators is British junior company BWA Group, through its subsidiary Aracari Gold Cameroon Ltd, which has been stripped of its exclusive rights to a highly promising 1,260 square kilometer block located along the Tcholliré-Banyo shear zone in the North region.

The regulatory cleanup decree frees up vast areas of land that immediately revert to the state's public domain, with a view to future reallocation to more technically rigorous investors. In addition to BWA Group, which loses its licenses on the Tcholliré Nord, Bandjoukri Ouest, and Bandjoukri Centre perimeters, the list of deposed companies also includes Sheng Hin Mining, Superland Mining, and Reservoir Minerals Cameroon, a subsidiary of Oriole Resources, which is giving up its three concessions in Mana, Dogon, and Sanga. The British multinational retains only its five research permits for heavy mineral sands (rutile and ilmenite) located in the Center and South provinces. The severity of the ministerial decision reflects the public will to reform the mining governance, whose global contribution to national wealth has stagnated below the critical threshold of 1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The restructuring of gold concessions meets the transparency requirements set out by the international secretariat of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Sectoral audits have highlighted massive capital flight and clandestine export logistics channels smuggling raw gold to the Dubai financial hub, depriving the public treasury of substantial tax resources. The authorities are backing up the withdrawal of licenses with targeted legal action against over a hundred operators in a situation of complete illegality on national territory. The future sustainability and profitability of the sector will depend on the implementation of a production flow tracking system at the mine exit and increased customs control at airport borders.

Nlend Flore