He said the Government is committed to ensuring the availability of resources for the development of mining communities, as well as other communities, through the proper management of mineral resources for today's generation as well as future ones.

Mr Asomah-Cheremeh said this on Tuesday during a roundtable on Mineral Royalties Management and Community Development in Accra.

The roundtable, which was organised by the Australian High Commission in Ghana, brought together stakeholders such as community activists, mining companies, state mining regulatory agencies and development partners.

It was aimed at teasing out possible options for the development of mining communities in the country.

Its objective was to bring about clarity, understanding and transparency to the issues around royalty allocations and how they can be used for the development of mining communities.

Mr Asomah-Cheremeh said governments, from independence, had put in place and implemented various policies, measures and even laws to ensure that revenues generated by mineral resources go to benefit the country and its people, at large.

He said starting from 1962, by the Minerals Act (Act 126), Government vested all minerals in the President on behalf of the people.

"Mineral royalties, therefore, became part of government revenues to help fund the development of the country through the consolidated fund," he said.

"However, recognizing that mining has localized development-inhibiting impacts beyond the direct ones dealt with under the 'polluter pays' principle, government administratively set up a fund to support development of local communities in which mining took place in 1992. But in the absence of the needed legislative backing, the fund's impact was limited."

Mr Asomah-Cheremeh said the passage of the Minerals Development Fund (MDF) Act (Act 912) by government in 2016 addressed the challenge.

He said the main objective of the Act was to provide financial resources to directly benefit mining communities, holders of interest in land within mining communities and institutions responsible for the development of mining in the country.

He said the Act governs mainly the use of 20 per cent of mineral royalties and other specified minerals incomes.

He said the proportions going to the assemblies and traditional authorities in mining communities were additional to the District Assemblies Common Fund and other monies that were distributed to all local areas.

The Minister said although, the MDF allocation was fraught with other challenges such as the capping law and the funding of legacy projects it inherited  the Board was working assiduously to ensure that monies received were applied for its intended purpose, to promote mining community specific development.

"Indeed, it is envisaged that by the third quarter of 2020, all the nine legacy projects would be completed and funds tied for the purpose would be freed for more future-oriented development in mining communities.

He said currently, a survey was ongoing to identify more alternatives/complementary livelihood interventions for mining communities.

Mr Andrews Barnes, the Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, said through the roundtable and various initiatives, including an Australia-funded mining cadastral administration system at the Minerals Commission amongst others were discussed.

"There is no question that exploitation of Ghana's vast mineral resources can make a strong contribution to local development. It is however, important that the right structures and systems exist to ensure that that mining revenues lead to economic development and deliver improvements in the living standards of local people," he said.

"If the mining companies are paying their corporate taxes, their payroll taxes, their royalty taxes, and undertaking corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects in the communities in which they are operating, but still towns like Obuasi remain underdeveloped and without basic services, then something is obviously not right with the governance systems and structures."

Mr Richard Ellimah, the Executive Director, Centre for Social Impact Studies, said the continuous underdevelopment of mining communities was a threat to national security; citing violent riots in Tarkwa over bad roads.