Ecological degradation due to surface gold mining is one of the major issues facing the people of mining countries around the world. Major ecological degradation issues include soils, air and water pollution, degradation of vegetation and expansive scarring of the land surface. This problem is more acute in the developing countries where there is lack of proper regulations, monitoring and enforcement of environmental laws; Ghana is facing ecosystem degradation as well. The purpose of this study was two fold; (i) to assess the rate and extent of physical degradation resulting from multinational large scale gold operations, and (ii) to investigate and compare the degree of potential heavy metal contamination from tailings from four mining communities in Ghana. Using remote sensing and GIS technologies, it was observed that 20,727 hectares of forest land was completely destroyed between 1986 and 2000 through multinational gold mining activities. Almost 60% of the land was degraded to the point where it could not be used for any useful agricultural activities. An additional 35,000 hectares of land were polluted and remediation would very expensive. Chemical analysis of tailings from small scale mining operations in four mining communities showed very high levels of AS, Cu, and Pb. Small scale mining also produced tailings with elevated concentrations of As and Hg. Based on these studies it is recommended that the government of Ghana institute strict environmental regulations to protect the ecosystems of mining areas.