Abstract
This study examines how gold mining policy in Ghana has historically contributed to the marginalisation and informalisation of the small-scale gold mining sector. Drawing on qualitative archival data from public and private repositories in Ghana and England, the paper traces the influence of organised industry interests on colonial and postcolonial mining governance. The findings reveal that labour regulations, licensing regimes, concession allocation, and fiscal incentives were structured in ways that privileged large-scale, foreign-dominated enterprises while constraining indigenous miners. The study argues that contemporary SGM informalisation is a historically rooted outcome of institutional asymmetries embedded within Ghana’s mining policy framework.