The Ghana Chamber of Mines anticipates that gold production in 2024 will surpass 4.5 million ounces.

Despite economic challenges in the nation, the mining sector experienced some expansion in 2023.

President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Joshua Mortoti, provided insights, stating that small-scale mining companies are projected to produce between 1.1 million and 1.3 million ounces of gold in 2024.

On the other hand, large-scale gold mining firms are expected to contribute significantly to the total, with a production estimate of 3.4 million ounces.

“The latter mines [Obuasi, Tarkwa] are approaching their end of life span. With a projected output range of 1.1 million ounces to 1.3 million ounces in 2024 from the small-scale sector, the national gold output is expected to exceed 4.5 million ounces in 2024. Including manganese production, the planned output for 2024 is 5 million tonnes,” he said.

Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, expressed that the government and the Ghana Chamber of Mines had achieved significant successes together in the previous year.

Looking forward to 2024, he emphasized the opportunity to intensify and enhance cooperative efforts. The goal is to establish conditions that facilitate the efficient and profitable operations of large-scale mining firms.

“What I can assure you is that the government is fully committed to providing adequate security for your concessions. Because it is when your concessions are safe that you can work in peace to support the government. So, whatever we need to do to ensure that your concessions are safe, we will do it”, he stated.

“And in this regard, I will continue to count on the leadership of the Chamber. If there are specific or special cases, we need to deal with let us know and we will take the necessary steps to deal with them”, he added.

According to third-quarter data from 2023, production attributable to member businesses of the Ghana Chamber of Mines reached 2.14 million ounces. This figure is slightly lower than the 2.18 million ounces recorded during the same period in 2022.

In contrast, production from small-scale miners saw a significant increase from 0.66 million ounces in 2022 to 1.12 million ounces in 2023, reflecting a substantial growth of 70.6%.