Ghana remains Africa’s top producing nation of gold despite the decline of gold production in 2020 due to issues related to the pandemic and others.
In 2019 Ghana produced 5 million ounces of gold, surpassing South Africa’s production of 4.2-million ounces.
With traditional companies and artisanal miners contributing to Ghana’s gold production, some of the largest including Kinross Gold (Chirano mine), Newmont Goldcorp (Akyem and Ahafo mines), AngloGold Ashanti (Obuasi and Iduapriem mines), Gold Fields (Tarkwa gold mine) and Asanko Gold (Asanko mine) kept production on course.
The decline in Ghana’s gold production in 2020 was the country’s biggest in 17 years. Outputs by the large scale mines dropped 4.8% to 2.8 million ounces. The COVID-19 induced disruptions in supply chain impacted more on the small scale sub-sector causing a 26% fall in output.
The physical performance was on the back of higher gold prices which boosted royalties.
The Ghana Chamber of Mines forecast Industrial gold production in 2021 to range between 3 million and 3.5 million ounces from the 2.8 million ounces in 2020. If gold prices remain favourable, this will result in higher revenue for both the producing companies and the state.
