Ghana will soon stop exporting raw gold as the government moves to expand local refining and boost value addition in the gold sector, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has said.
The Minister announced the plan after touring the Gold Coast Refinery on Wednesday, February 4, noting that the facility is already refining one metric tonne of gold locally every week, with capacity to double output.
Dr. Forson disclosed that the Gold Board has reached an agreement to supply the refinery with one tonne of gold weekly for processing, and said the arrangement will be increased in the near future.
“Clearly, this company, Gold Coast Refinery, has the ability to refine up to two tonnes of gold per week. Gold Board has agreed to provide them with one tonne of gold per week for refining. This will be scaled up to two tonnes per week in no time,” he stated.
He added that the Gold Board can currently purchase about 2.5 tonnes of gold per week on average, and the government intends to redirect more of that supply into domestic processing.
“Today, Gold Board has the capacity to buy 2.5 tonnes on average per week. It is our policy to ensure that, in the shortest possible time, we will not be exporting raw gold outside this country,” Dr. Forson said.
