The government has secured an initial $250,000 development grant from the World Gold Council, part of a broader $1 million support package aimed at promoting responsible artisanal and small-scale gold mining and curbing illegal gold trade.
The funding forms part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Ghana and the World Gold Council through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to strengthen supply chain integrity and encourage environmentally sustainable mining practices.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, described the partnership as a significant step towards ensuring that Ghanaian gold is produced responsibly and traded through legal channels.
He said the goal was to ensure that any gold from Ghana could be confidently traced to legitimate sources.
Mr Buah noted that the initiative would improve gold recovery among artisanal miners while reducing environmental degradation associated with illegal mining.
He explained that many miners currently recovered less than 20 per cent of the value of their ore, but could increase recovery to more than 80 per cent with access to modern processing facilities.
The agreement will also support the establishment of a national network of trusted gold processing plants to enable small-scale miners to process ore more efficiently and channel their gold through formal markets.
The President of the World Gold Council, Mr David Tait, said Ghana’s approach could serve as a model for other gold-producing countries facing challenges with artisanal and small-scale mining.
He explained that the programme would leverage verification technology, modern processing plants and official gold-buying systems to improve transparency, reduce environmental damage and strengthen the formal gold trade.
Mr Tait urged stakeholders to support the initiative, stressing that illegal mining was a national challenge that should not be politicised.
BY TIMES REPORTER
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