The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), in collaboration with the Northern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service, has conducted a major anti-illegal mining operation at Kpali, near Gbinyiri, in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region.
The operation resulted in the arrest of 10 suspected illegal miners and the seizure of heavy mining equipment, firearms and other logistics. The operation, conducted from 25 to 27 August 2026, followed an earlier reconnaissance mission on 19 August, which confirmed reports of illegal mining activities in the area.
The operation is particularly significant because the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District lies along the Black Volta corridor, an important water resource whose protection remains critical to communities and ecosystems within the area.
Illegal mining within the wider catchment threatens the river through land degradation, sediment-laden runoff, and the potential discharge of fuel, oil, and other pollutants associated with mining operations.
Upon arriving at the Kpali site, the joint Task Force encountered individuals actively engaged in mining and observed extensive environmental disturbance. A total of 10 suspects — three Chinese nationals and seven Ghanaians, comprising five males and two females — were arrested.
The operation also resulted in the seizure of two excavators, three excavator monitors, a Toyota Hilux, a fuel bowser containing diesel, a generator, batteries, communication equipment and other mining-related items.
Personnel also recovered three firearms, 25 live cartridges, nine communication radios and 12 mobile phones, as well as cash in Ghanaian and foreign currencies.
To further degrade the operators’ capacity to resume mining, the Task Force destroyed 15 makeshift structures and a generator used at the site.
The Task Force handed over the arrested suspects and relevant exhibits to the Savannah Regional Police Command in Damongo for further investigation and appropriate legal action.
The excavators and other heavy equipment were secured at designated holding sites.
NAiMOS considers protecting the Black Volta and its surrounding catchment an important part of the broader national effort to safeguard Ghana’s water resources from the damaging effects of illegal mining.
Continued mining within the area risks increasing sedimentation, degrading adjoining lands and allowing fuel and other mining-related pollutants to enter waterways that ultimately support the Black Volta system.
NAiMOS will therefore continue to work with Ghana Armed Forces units, the Ghana Police Service, and other relevant state institutions to identify and dismantle illegal mining operations within the Savannah Region, arrest offenders, and deny illegal miners access to the equipment and logistical networks that sustain their activities.
The Secretariat remains committed to ensuring that illegal mining does not become entrenched along the Black Volta corridor and that this important water resource is protected from further environmental degradation.
