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The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has entered into a partnership with the World Gold Council (WGC), the global authority on gold, seeking to leverage international expertise and market access to transform the country’s mining sector.
The historic partnership is focused on sanitising the mining sector by creating a fully traceable gold supply chain to promote responsible mining.
Again, the initiative will lead to the establishment of new, regulated community processing plants under the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP).
A high-level engagement was held with the WGC delegation led by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), David Tait, last Monday at which the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, emphasised that the government was committed to taking bold steps to build a sustainable mining sector.
The agreement is centred on the creation of an integrated gold value chain built on three pillars - traceability from mine to market; centralised processing plants to aggregate and monitor gold; and the use of official buying channels.
Both parties agreed on an actionable roadmap, including the formation of a joint working team to ensure transparency in the rollout of the programme.
Per the roadmap, the two sides agreed to have the first gold processing plants operational within six months of funding confirmation.
They also agreed that the partnership would mark a bold and practical commitment to transform Ghana’s gold sector by prioritising transparency, sustainability and fair benefits for mining communities.
Overall, the two sides agreed to use the partnership to bring an end to illegal mining and transform the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector into a responsible and sustainable contributor to the national economy.
Mr Buah said the partnership aligned with the government’s broader strategy to formalise artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), promote responsible mining, eliminate illegal mining (galamsey), and enhance the value of the country’s mineral resources.
The Ellembelle Member of Parliament (MP) described the partnership as a strategic and timely initiative that would ensure the sustainable exploitation of the country’s mineral resources, while creating enhanced benefits to citizens.
He observed that by channelling gold through the transparent and traceable system, the initiative would directly tackle the informal and often illicit trade in the precious metal that had challenged the sector over time.
The WGC CEO commended the government for initiating bold and revolutionary policies and interventions to address excesses in the mining sector.
For instance, he said Ghana’s rCOMSDEP initiative was a robust and well-thought-through model that could be a blueprint for formalising ASM across the world.
Mr Tait said WGC’s interest in the programme was because it answered the nagging questions of the council to identify sustainable supply chains that streamline and standardise gold sourcing from traceable and responsible sources to feed international refineries.
He said the council also envisaged that through the partnership, the gold mining sector would be made more attractive to investors.
