Mining firms in Ghana will have to sell 20% of refined gold to Bank of Ghana. Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has issued the order and said it is part of measures to operationalize government’s plan to use gold to buy oil-products.
“The Bank of Ghana and the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) will coordinate with the large scale mining companies to ensure compliance with this directive. This is part of measures we are taking to tackle dwindling of foreign currency reserves,” said Mahamudu Bawumia.
Mining industry in Ghana
The large scale miners will sell their percentage to Central Bank while community mining schemes and licensed small-scale miners will to sell their gold to the government through PMMC. According to the Vice President, the gold to be purchased by the Bank of Ghana and the PMMC will be in cedis at spot price with no discounts.
The Mining industry in Ghana accounts for 5% of the country’s GDP and minerals make up 37% of total exports, of which gold contributes over 90% of the total mineral exports. Thus, the main focus of Ghana’s mining and minerals development industry remains focused on gold.
The country is one of the top two gold producers in the world. Ghana is one of the top two gold producers in the world. However, 35% of its output is from the artisanal and small-scale gold miners. The unregistered also fall in this category. The government made registration mandatory for all the miners under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 to cub problem of conflict, informality, poverty, illegality and lack of state control.