Five underground mining companies exposed in east Cameroon

(Business in Cameroon) - The Departmental Delegate for Mining in Lom and Djerem has just made an odd discovery while touring mining sites in its jurisdiction. Margueritte Ndeh, reveals in the daily Cameroonian government publication that five companies absent from its registry have been discovered quietly engaging in the illegal mining of gold in Bétaré Oya and its environs.

    The discovered mining companies which have no authorisation from the Cameroonian authorities are Gipo Mining, Ging Ma SA, D’or de lion, Danshang Ming and Fuhaï Ming. Without any other recourse, the head of the mining oversight body warned the company heads to regularise their activity as soon as possible.

   In addition to the discovery of these underground companies, Marguérite Ndeh denounced mining companies’ disregard for the physical boundaries contained in their permits. They (the mining companies) go beyond the borders of the plots of land they have received,” she confided at the end of her on-site walk.

    Gold production in Cameroon is estimated at approximately 100 tonnes per annum. But, the government confesses that 90% of national production is based in the informal trade run by smugglers.