“This refinery will play an necessary function in decreasing gold smuggling which has been a significant problem for the nation through the years by offering a prepared marketplace for artisanal and small-scale miners,” mentioned Financial institution of Ghana Governor Ernest Addison.
“This gold refinery can mitigate the inducement for smuggling and assist promote transparency and accountability in gold buying and selling,” he mentioned.
Rosy Royal Minerals Ltd. of India owns 80% of the refinery and the central financial institution the rest, in line with authorities officers.
The refinery is the newest step taken to formalize Ghana’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining. The central financial institution has purchased $5 billion price of gold from small miners as a part of a program began in 2021 to spice up Ghana’s foreign-exchange reserves, Addison mentioned. Many different African nations akin to Uganda and Madagascar are following the transfer or contemplating doing so to prop up their currencies.
The plan additionally matches inside a wider push throughout the continent so as to add worth to pure assets earlier than exporting them to reap better financial rewards.
“Our failure to efficiently guarantee worth addition throughout the complete useful resource chain has meant that we now have been unable to correctly harness the advantages of being among the many high 10 gold producers on the earth,” mentioned Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam.
The gold mining historical past of present-day Ghana, often called the Gold Coast beneath British colonial rule, spans centuries.
Ghana’s authorities can be in talks with the London Bullion Market Affiliation, which certifies gold that’s responsibly sourced, to safe a wider marketplace for its small miners.
“If we work laborious, we are able to obtain LBMA standing,” Eric Santeng, a director at Royal Ghana Gold, mentioned with out giving a timeline. “This standing is inside our grasp however requires the concerted effort of all.”
Getting the brand new refinery on the LBMA’s Good Supply Listing would make it simpler to commerce this gold by making it compliant with the stringent sourcing requirements of a few of the largest world patrons.
(By Yinka Ibukun and Ekow Dontoh)