The Gold Board (GoldBod) has secured a parcel of land at the cargo village of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to build an International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certified assay laboratory.

The facility is expected to change the country’s assay regime from X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and water density to the golden standard of assay – fire assay, for all gold produced in and/or exported from Ghana. 

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GoldBod, Sammy Gyamfi, who made this known said the construction of the assay laboratory aligned with the governments overall reset agenda that sought to promote value addition and make mining more beneficial to the country.

“On that same parcel of land secured by the GoldBod at the KIA, we will be building a wholly state-owned and international-standard gold refinery to further advance the local refining of gold, transitioning Ghana from the export of doré to bullion,” he said.

Mr Gyamfi was speaking at the opening session of the Minerals and Mining Convention in Accra last Tuesday (September 9).

Mining Convention

The convention, which was on the theme: "Shaping the future of Ghana's gold industry", was attended by key stakeholders, including policy makers, academia, captains of industry, CSOs and other development partners.

They discussed pertinent issues in the country’s mining sector, ranging from policy reforms, regulatory clarity, advancing sustainability, unlocking finance and sovereign leverage, to building global partnerships, innovations and investor confidence.

Relevant state institutions also shared ideas with the participants about the way forward in the search for pragmatic solutions to illegal mining and other bottlenecks in the mining sector.

Reset mining

Mr Gyamfi said as part of the reset agenda of the government, the GoldBod was working closely with the Bank of Ghana and local refineries, particularly the Gold Coast Refinery, to begin the local refining of gold purchased and exported by the board.

“It is a national shame that as a long-standing continental leader in gold production, Ghana continues to export raw gold instead of bullion or refined gold. The GoldBod is determined to change this narrative as a matter of urgency,” he stressed.

He commended the Ghana Chamber of Mines for expressing their willingness to work with the GoldBod to ensure the local refining of gold produced by large-scale mining firms in the country.

Mr Gyamfi also said the GoldBod had activated plans to develop strategic partnerships to establish a “Gold Village” in the country. He said the Gold Village had been envisioned as a continental hub for gold jewellery and ornament production. 

“But this dream will elude us without the critical partnership of financial institutions for value-adding investments, particularly in area of refining, minting and the fabrication of minerals into jewelry, coins, tablets, and other forms of castings for domestic consumption and exports,” he said.

Mining support

Mr Gyamfi also said the GoldBod had started a mining support programme (MSP) seeking to attract direct investments into the country’s mining sector, particularly for the procurement of environmentally-friendly mining equipment.

He said the move was targeted at optimising production and recovery of god for the maximisation of national benefits.

The Gold CEO said the board had already signed a memorandum of understanding with Goldstream Global DMCC, an independent precious metals investment and trading house to facilitate the mobilization of funds for the project.

“This MoU would eventually transform into a commercial agreement by November, 2025, for the investment of up to $1 billion in establishing over 300 responsible mines in blocked-out mineralised areas and in partnership with concession owners,” he said.

He explained that under the initiative, the GoldBod would collaborate with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and its allied agencies, particularly the Minerals Commission, to develop mineralised areas, as well as partner with concession owners and communities to maximise the country’s gold output through sustainable mining.

Mr Gyamfi said the MSP was crucial because it had a huge potential to increase national gold output and create thousands of jobs in the mining ecosystem for the teeming unemployed youth.

 He said the Minerals Commission had already released 10 blocked-out mineralised areas to the GoldBod for the program and had further pledged to release more in the coming weeks.