Lithium Investors Alarmed by Lease Delays (Parliament Yet to Ratify Ewoyaa Project Amid Royalty Dispute)
Investors in mining, especially shareholders of Atlantic Lithium, are worried about delays in approving the mining lease for the Ewoyaa Lithium Project in Ghana’s Central Region, which was obtained through its subsidiary Barari DV Ghana Ltd. The initial lease signed on October 20, 2023, failed to gain parliamentary approval due to political gridlock, while a revised lease laid before Parliament on November 11, 2025, was withdrawn on December 10, 2025, by Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah following concerns over reducing royalties from 10% to 5%. The minister sent the lease back on December 19, 2025, along with a proposed sliding royalty scale of 5% to 12% based on global lithium prices. After that, it was sent to the Lands and Natural Resources Committee of Parliament, which is led by Collins Dauda. Since then, there have been more than 25 parliamentary sessions, but not much progress or communication has been made. This has made investors worried about how open and predictable Ghana’s mining sector is. Some shareholders have even said that the delay could make investors less confident and lead to less investment.
