By IMANI Africa’s Vice President, Bright Simons, has released explosive findings detailing how Mech Resources, a company owned by the children of former Chief of Staff Frema Opare, allegedly acquired a multi-million-dollar gold mining lease under questionable circumstances.
Through a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Simons exposed how the Minerals Commission allegedly fast-tracked the lease process, disregarding crucial due diligence measures.
According to Simons, Mech Resources had no prior experience in mining or related industries. Despite this, the company was not required to provide evidence of skilled mining personnel on its payroll or demonstrate financial capability to fund the $25.8 million initial investment it claimed to have planned.
Instead of meeting rigorous industry standards, the company allegedly submitted basic financial projections and a general outline of its plans. Shockingly, this was deemed sufficient for them to be granted a lease covering 9,000 acres of gold-rich land, estimated to hold 475,000 ounces of recoverable gold.
At current market rates, the gold deposit is valued at approximately $1.38 billion. However, Mech Resources’ feasibility study reportedly estimated total operational costs at under $100 million, suggesting the company stood to make over a billion dollars in pre-tax profits.
Mr. Simons also noted that Mech Resources did not even hire a professional accountant to prepare its financial projections. The application allegedly contained weak discount factoring, poor sensitivity analysis, and a failure to account for the impact of royalties.
Another alarming revelation was the company’s failure to disclose which specific water bodies would be affected by its mining activities. A request from examining officers for this information was ignored, yet the lease was still approved.
Reports from investigative outlet The Fourth Estate have previously documented how mining concessions linked to Frema Opare’s children have contributed to the pollution of major Ghanaian rivers, including the Ankobra and Tano Rivers.
Simons further revealed that initial reviews from examining officers at the Minerals Commission had flagged the need for a Water Resource Commission permit before approval. However, top officials at the Commission allegedly bypassed these concerns, advising the Minister to approve the lease regardless.
Fast-tracked approval and conflict of interest concerns
Despite these numerous discrepancies, the lease recommendation was reportedly ready within six weeks. Simons suspects that this case is not isolated, as four additional gold mining leases linked to the same family have also been fast-tracked. In total, they have applied for 23 mining and prospecting licenses, with five already granted.
Simons also raised ethical concerns regarding Maata Osei Opare, one of the key figures in Mech Resources, who serves as the Head of Legal at Fidelity Bank and sits on the board of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
He highlighted how Fidelity Bank had previously sued him while he was investigating forex losses at ECG, a move he believes was aimed at blocking further scrutiny into deals between the bank and ECG.
In his post, Simons accused the Minerals Commission of enabling politically connected individuals to sidestep mining regulations.
