Nii Osah Mills pushes jewellery industry policy

Nii Osah Mills, Minister for Land and Natural Resources, says the policy to develop the jewellery industry will not yield the desired benefits if the country continue to refine gold abroad, as the establishment of a gold refinery has attracted considerable debate in the country.

“There is a policy to develop the jewellery industry, but the projected industry will not yield the desired benefits if we continue to refine our gold outside the country.

“Indeed, government sees the merit in having our own refineries for many reasons; among which is the fact that Ghana will enjoy the competitive advantages in terms of downstream industries that may be established in the gold industries,” said Minister Mills at the sidelines of the minerals and mining policy launch that brought together industry players and major stakeholders.

 He indicated that a viable jewellery industry can flourish only if jewellers have easy access to relatively cheap refined 99.99 purity gold.

Dr. Toni Aubynn, Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission in a recent interview confirmed that establishing gold refineries in the country in the coming years will position the country to add value to the precious metal and get real monetary value, as the gold price fluctuation continues in the world market. 

The country boasts five registered established gold refineries located in various parts of the country; some are producing and others are due to be operational by close of the year.

The country is second-largest producer of gold in Africa and 9^th in the world, and has only a few small gold refineries refining gold produced by small-scale miners. Almost 100% of the gold produced from large as well as small-scale producers is exported without value addition.

Speaking with B&FT on a wide range of issues in the minerals and mining sector, Dr. Aubynn, confirmed that owing to the fluctuation of global gold prices: “Establishment of gold refineries will set the country on a better standing, as it is prudent to add value to its precious metal to get real monetary value from it”.

The country produced a total of 4.4million ounces of gold. Small-scale gold miners produced a total of 1.5 million ounces, which amounts to about 34% of total gold produced. The mining sector contributed 16% of total government revenue.

The country is the second-highest gold producing nation in Africa after South Africa, and has attracted major multinational mining companies including Newmont Mining Corporation, Gold Fields Limited, AngloGold Ashanti, and Golden Star Resources among others.

These companies export the raw metal for processing overseas due to lack of an in-country refinery.

Government early last year announced its readiness to partner any investor to help establish a gold refinery plant for adding value to the country’s gold.

B&FT has gathered that ASAP VASA Company Limited -- a multi-million dollar high capacity refinery plant, a major gold refinery plant in the country operating and refining 100 kilogrammes of gold daily into granules, coins and bars -- purchases all of its raw gold from licenced small-scale miners and refines it to international quality standards of 99.9% fineness for the local and international gold markets.

Dr. Aubynn said the country’s minerals and mining sector is well-positioned to serve the West African market, and that the advent of these refineries will position the industry as a hub for refining gold in the sub-region.

He urged the companies to focus on their strategies for positioning themselves to be the West African hub, and these are the targets of the refineries. “The companies want to be able to refine for West Africa, so it is not only Ghana that they are targetting. If things go well it will be good for Ghana.

“Those local refineries should consider and refine produce from the multinational gold mining companies, especially Newmont, Gold Fields among others,” Dr. Aubynn remarked.