Following decades of mining, Ghana installs its first gold refinery
Ghana, the continent’s top producer of gold, launched its first commercial refinery in Accra, the capital, on Thursday in an attempt to increase the value and revenue from the centuries-old precious metal.
Before obtaining a license to process gold from large-scale miners, the 400 kilograms (kg) per day Royal Ghana Gold Refinery would source gold dore from small- and artisanal miners.
With a 20% share, Ghana’s national bank and Rosy Royal Minerals of India jointly own the refinery.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia spoke at the event, announcing that the Royal Gold Refinery’s opening signaled “a new era” that would increase national profits from the precious metal and help stop the smuggling of gold.
“With the ability to refine our gold, we will be able to sell it at the appropriate price, enabling us to retain its economic value within our borders while creating numerous jobs for the youth,” he stated.
While a sizeable portion of the production from uncontrolled artisanal miners, known locally as galamsey, is smuggled outside the nation, Ghana exports its gold in raw form from legal companies.
Refinery employment would generate 500 indirect jobs and 80-120 direct jobs, according to Bawumia, the presidential candidate in the December polls.
Ghana continued to lead Africa in gold production last year, with 4.03 million ounces produced thanks to increasing output from artisanal and small-scale miners.
With an estimated production of between 4.3 million and 4.5 million ounces of gold, the West African country—which also happens to be the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa—is poised to surpass its 2024 gold production goal.
In order to stabilize the cedi and increase reserves through domestic purchases, the Bank of Ghana started a gold purchase program in 2021.
Governor Ernest Addison of the Bank of Ghana stated that the bank was eager for the refinery to obtain the London Bullion Market Association (LMA) certification as soon as possible. Purchases amounted to 65.4 tons, or $5 billion.
According to Addison, the refinery’s LBMA certification would enable the bank to “diversify and organically grow its foreign exchange reserves and accumulate more gold reserves to reduce dependence on external borrowing.”
Godwin Armah, general secretary of the group of small-scale gold miners, stated that in order to gain the confidence and support of its members, the refinery must be “transparent” about pricing and gold quantities received.
