The Ghana Chamber of Mines is advocating for a significant increase in government support to bolster local refining capabilities within Ghana, aiming to retain more value from its mineral resources. Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Dr Ken Ashigbey, stated that government must take an active role in making local refining commercially viable. ‘Government needs to put its skin in the game,’ he emphasized during a Wednesday interview on Joy News’ PM Express. He further explained that this push for local content will come with additional costs, however, he argued that the burden should not fall solely on the industry. ‘But again, all of us need to chip in,’ he stated. His comments coincide with Ghana’s accelerated plans to end the export of raw gold and increase domestic value addition. GoldBod has directed Self-Financing Aggregators to refine gold doré in Ghana before export from September 1, 2026, under a directive requiring unrefined doré no longer to be approved for export. The refining process must be conducted at an approved or designated refinery, with the cost borne by the aggregator or its approved offtakers. The policy is part of a broader strategy to end Ghana’s raw mineral exports, with GoldBod also collaborating with the large-scale mining sector to channel gold into local refining and reserve accumulation. Dr. Ashigbey believes the government can ease the transition by reviewing taxes and levies that impact refineries. ‘The issue, of course, is that it is coming from the taxes and levies that are on,’ he conceded. He also wants private refinery operators to invest in technology that could lower their production costs. ‘The issues of these private sector people who own the refineries in terms of the technology that they need to put in to be able to ensure that they reduce their cost, it’s something that we need to do,’ he added. Furthermore, he suggested that power costs are another major concern. ‘The issues of even power, you know, currently the cost of power, so there might be some policy decisions that would have to be taken,’ he explained. Dr. Ashigbey suggested that the government could consider granting refineries preferential access to cheaper hydroelectricity due to their strategic importance. ‘Because of the criticality of refineries, is it possible that in the energy mix, we will give them, you know, a lot more of the hydro that is cheaper?’ He also pointed to proposed solar investments under the 24-hour economy as another possible way to reduce energy costs. ‘The conversations, the 24-hour economy is thinking of putting together some solar, you know, large solar plants, you know, and which will reduce the cost of energy to around 3 to 4 cents per kilowatt-hour,’ he stated. For Dr. Ashigbey, local refining remains a worthwhile goal, but the burden must be shared by government and industry. ‘So I think that this issue of beneficiation is a good thing for us, and, you know, all of us need to chip in,’ he emphasized. He stressed that the transition must be collaborative if Ghana is to reduce the cost of local processing. ‘But it has to be done collaboratively. Government need to embrace industry to all work together as a collective, as a country, as investors working together with government to reduce the cost.’ He cited the cost absorbed under the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Programme as an example of the burden already borne by industry. ‘So there’s some pain again, like the large scale, for example, the GANRAP, we are starting with a 0.55 when we are doing a weighted average of 0.098. So that’s some extra subsidisation that we’re doing for government,’ he explained. He said the objective should ultimately be collective. ‘But we all need to work together as a collective, as a country, as investors working together with government to reduce the cost.’
Source: MyJoyOnline
