Ghana's lithium contract with Barari DV Ghana Limited will yield the highest royalty ever paid to the country in mineral exploration history, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Abu Jinapor has said.

At a press briefing on Ghana’s First Lithium Contract, Terms, Benefits and the Way Forward at the Ministry of Information, Mr Jinapor pointed out that "it is the first time in the history of our country that we have successfully negotiated for 10 per cent royalties for any mineral which is one of the highest for the exploration of any mineral across the world.”

Additionally, he said: “We have already secured 19 per cent state participation in this mining company with the requirement to scale it up to a minimum of Ghanaian participation through listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange for shares to be made available to Ghanaians and Ghanaian entities".

“What this simply means is that when it is all over, Barari DV Limited, the holder of this mineral right of lithium, Ghanaian and state participation will be 30 per cent and foreign participation will be a maximum of 70 per cent and this has never happened in the history of our country in respect of any mineral", he stressed.

“And for the first time in the history of our country, a mineral lease contains provision for the establishment of a refinery and that is value addition and appreciation and this is the first time", Mr Jinapor added.

A few days ago, former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo criticised the deal as no different from the other deals the country signed with regard to other minerals in which the nation has been shortchanged for years.