In his welcome address, Prof Dodoo said that the Ghana Standards Authority is pleased to contribute to the national economy by certifying purified gold in Ghana. He said that the Authority has adopted ten national and international standards for gold, precious minerals and jewelry.

He also added that the Authority has a world-class gold assay laboratory equipped with state of the art equipment comprising of X-Ray Fluorescence Machine and all the requirements for fire assay analysis. Prof Dodoo said that the GSA will work with stakeholders to ensure that gold purified in Ghana is traceable and of known provenance.

Board Chairman  for the Ghana Standards Authority, Dr Akwasi Achampong said that maximizing benefits from natural resources will require value addition before export. In this regard, the GSA's certification of gold produced by the Gold Coast Refinery can be seen as a step in the right direction, Dr Achampong added.

"Apart from increasing revenue from such export, it will also help us accurately account for revenue from the export of gold" he stated. Dr  Achampong said  that the certification of the processed gold is in line with His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo's  concept of Industrialization which aims at offering employment and increasing revenue to achieve the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.

Mr Sampson Nortery, Managing Director for Gold Coast Refinery Limited said that the refinery's core business involves assaying using internationally accepted methods and standards to refine precious metals including gold, silver, platinum and palladium up to the highest or fineness of 99.999.

He added that they have well equipped laboratories to perform internationally acceptable assay. He said "our products include refined gold and silver bars of 1 kilogram, 500 grams, 250 grams and 100 grams of gold and  silver" .

Mr Nortey that said the GCRL is currently pursuing various international certifications including International Organisation of Standardization (ISO 9001:2015) for Quality Management Systems and (ISO 45001: 2018) for  occupational  Health, Safety Management System and (ISO 17025) for laboratory accreditation.

He said that Ghana now has finished, quality products which can be sold on the international bullion market as Hallmarked gold. "This development has immense benefits for the economy and country as well". He added that it will improve Ghana's export earnings and foreign exchange proceeds to spport the monetary authorities in the management of the exchange rate.

Mr Alan Kyeremanten, the Minister of Trade and Industry who was the Guest of Honor, described the unveiling as a very significant development. He expressed regret that Ghana as a gold producer has not been recognized in the global bullion market due to lack of certification.

Gold Coast Security donated the first bar to government.