Chamber of Mines backs GoldBod's local refining directive

Ghana Chamber of Mines Chief Executive Officer Ing Ken Ashigbey has welcomed a new directive by the Ghana Gold Board (GOLDBOD) requiring all self-financing aggregators (SFAs) to refine gold doré locally before export.

In a notice to all SFAs, GOLDBOD announced that no gold doré shall be exported in its unrefined state going forward. The notice further requires that every offtake agreement or commercial arrangement entered into between an SFA and an approved offtaker must expressly provide for the mandatory refining of all gold doré in Ghana prior to export.

Speaking on TV3's Ghana Tonight programme, Ashigbey described the directive as a positive step, linking it to an existing arrangement with large-scale mining companies.

"I think it's one of the positive steps that we're taking," he said.

"You know that the large-scale mines, we have already signed an agreement with government where 30% of the output of large-scale mines, the doré is going to be refined in Ghana, and then in partnership with some LBMA refineries, finally refined and then sold to Bank of Ghana as part of their reserve accumulation."

He said extending a similar requirement to artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold would build on progress already made.

"So if now we're going to now also see that for ASM gold as well. And I know that for a while now the Gold Board has been refining a lot of the doré before they export it out. So if we're going to get into that point, then the issue about value retention would improve."

Ashigbey said he expects large-scale mining companies to use the existing 30% arrangement to gradually build the capacity of local refineries, with a view to those refineries eventually attaining London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) accreditation.

"I'm pretty sure that the large-scale mines would also work with government using this 30% gradually to build the capacity of our local refineries for them to also attain the LBMA, and so that there will be a lot more value retained. So it's a positive thing."

Ashigbey cautioned, however, that Ghana's local refining capacity needs further work to ensure it can operate competitively.

"The thing about all of this is that we also, there are things that we need to do to make sure that our refinery in this country is also competitive, so that if we are refining in this country, we're doing that very competitively," he said.