In a pit owned by the AngloGold Ashanti Company in Obuasi, some 30 persons who are thought to be illegal miners or "galamseyers" are trapped.
The event, according to the Ghanaian Times newspaper, happened in AngloGold's Cote d'Ivoire pit.
They were said to have snuck into the pit at Anwiam, an Obuasi neighborhood, to prospect for gold, but the news of the trapping only became public yesterday after the victims' family became concerned about their disappearance for a few days.
Nana Amoako Gyanpah, the chief of Okyekrom, acknowledged the development and accused AngloGold of leaving the pits exposed.
"The hole had been ignored by the firm for almost 12 years. Since there is a pit under my region, they must come and recover the land (since) we required the land for our small-scale farming operations, I sent a petition to AngloGold in 2020 to remind them of this.
Then I have to call the press and explain certain things within our own community to them, he said, according to JoyNews. "Right now in 2022 I wrote another one still to no avail."
However, AngloGold Ashanti's senior sustainability manager, Emmanuel Baidoo, claims that the concession still belongs to the business and accuses the villagers of trespassing.
He emphasized that the corporation had paid all local farmers who lived close to the pit.
Because it is part of our concession, which means we still have an interest in it, it is not a piece of land that has been given to the community.
We'll discuss it now because there's a chance we'll remine because the ore belongs to the state and we need to make sure it's mined. There's also a chance it'll be included in our reclamation program.
We had compensated all farms in that area in regard to the mining operation there and the lease that we have, he added. "The said pit is roughly 2.5km from the said village, so it is not even close to the community."
