As part of efforts to combat illegal mining, the South African Government has sent a delegation to Ghana to share ideas and learn best practices.

The eight-member delegation came to the country to understudy Ghana's mining regulations and tap into policies and interventions the country had adopted to fight illegal mining.

During their five-day visit, they met and interacted with officials of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Minerals Commission, Precious Minerals and Marketing Company (PMMC), security agencies and other relevant stakeholders in the mining industry.

The head of the South African delegation, Major General CN Zulu, said illegal mining exposes his country to security, social and economic threats.

He disclosed that South Africa had put in place a programme to reclaim its lands that illegal miners have degraded.

The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources in charge of mines, Mr George Mireku Duker, stated that small-scale mining was currently providing over 1,000,000 direct jobs for the people of Ghana.

He said due to this, the Government of Ghana was doing its best to rid the sector of challenges.

The minister said the government's commitment to cleaning the small-scale mining sector has resulted in the formation of Operation Halt II task force to patrol the river bodies and crack down on those whose illegal activities were destroying water bodies.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission, Mr Martin Ayisi, on his part said the best way to deal with illegal small-scale mining is to provide a legal framework to regulate the sector.

He said the issuance of licenses to small-scale miners forms part of the legal framework that ought to be provided.