The demonstration, dubbed “Gold Fields Must Stay,” was led by Mr Richard Nsor, Assembly Member for the New Atuabo Electoral Area.

The demonstrators marched through the principal streets of Tarkwa, carrying placards with inscriptions including “Tarkwa Without Gold Fields Will Be in Crisis,” “Prez Mahama, Please Listen to Us,” “Renegotiate the Gold Fields Deal,” “No More SGMC,” “Remember Damang Road,” and “Is TnA Stadium Not Enough?”

Addressing the media, Mr Nsor, the lead petitioner, said one of the most compelling reasons for supporting the continued operation of the Tarkwa Mine was its record of providing employment opportunities to people in its host communities.

He said, according to Gold Fields’ 2024 operational information, the Tarkwa Mine employed 568 workers and 5,092 contractors, with 71 per cent of the workforce drawn from its host communities.

Mr Nsor said representatives of the host communities, including Assembly Members, Unit Committee members and youth association executives, could confidently confirm the statistics, having been directly involved, together with traditional leaders, in the company’s host-community employment processes.

He explained that behind the figures were thousands of individuals and families whose livelihoods were directly or indirectly linked to the mining operation.

According to him, salaries earned by workers at the mine circulated within the Tarkwa economy through spending on housing, transportation, food, education, healthcare, retail and other services.

“No mining company in Ghana pays better salaries to its Ghanaian workers than Gold Fields, and the entire community benefits from these high wages that local owners of mines and mining contracts fail to pay,” Mr Nsor said.

He added that the benefits extended beyond direct employment, as contractors and suppliers employed additional Ghanaians, while the spending power generated by the mine supported businesses that had no direct contractual relationship with Gold Fields.

The lead petitioner argued that a mine that had demonstrated the capacity to localise a substantial proportion of its workforce deserved serious consideration for continued operation, subject to compliance with the laws of Ghana.

The demonstrators also called on the government to consider the more than US$110 million the Gold Fields Foundation had reportedly invested in infrastructure, education, enterprise development, healthcare, skills training and other social programmes benefiting communities in the Tarkwa and Damang mining areas.

They further urged the government to take into account the company’s environmental management and rehabilitation record, including its long-standing ISO 14001 certification, rehabilitation expenditure and tree-planting programmes, while maintaining stringent environmental conditions under any renewed lease.

The group also called on the government to use the lease renewal negotiations as an opportunity to secure stronger commitments from the company in areas such as host-community employment, local procurement, skills transfer, community development, environmental rehabilitation and local enterprise development.

Receiving the petition, Mr Ebenezer Kwabena Yeboah, Presiding Member of the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Assembly, assured the demonstrators that he would submit the petition to the appropriate authorities on their behalf.

Gold Fields submitted a comprehensive application in November 2025 for the renewal of its five Tarkwa mining leases.