Ghana: State Gold Refinery to Be Ready By November This Year - Mireku Duker

A new gold refinery for the state is set to be ready by November this year, the Deputy Lands and Natural Resources Minister, George Mireku Duker has announced.

The refinery which is 85 per cent complete, has become possible due to a bilateral partnership between Government of Ghana and the Indian government.

In October 2019, the government reaffirmed its commitment to establish a state-owned gold refinery through the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC).

When completed, it will become the third Gold refinery in Ghana in addition to the already two private refineries in operation: the Gold Coast Refinery and the Sahara Royal Gold Refinery.

Deputy Lands and Natural Resources Minister, George Mireku Duker, said value addition to gold would become paramount when the refinery was completed.

"… we have partnered the Indian government to put up a refinery in Ghana, and that refinery is 85 per cent complete and by November we should start operating. If we start refining gold in Ghana then obviously it will put more value on the gold that we sell."

The minister revealed this on the side-lines of a workshop on the digitisation of licensing of small-scale mining in Kumasi.

Ghana is currently the leading gold producer in Africa and sixth in the world - producing about 4.2 million ounces annually since 2018.

Mr Duker was positive the country would be able to generate enough revenue from the natural resource through processing.