The World Gold Council (WGC) has initiated high-level discussions with the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana GoldBod, Mr. Sammy Gyamfi, and members of the Governing Board of the GoldBod, led by its Chairman, Mr. Kojo Fynn, to explore a strategic partnership aimed at establishing commercially viable and environmentally sustainable gold processing plants for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in Ghana.
The proposed partnership is considered critical to boosting gold production within the informal mining sector, increasing state revenue, and improving livelihoods across the ASM value chain, while addressing sustainability challenges that continue to plague the sector. In 2024 alone, the artisanal and small-scale mining sector contributed over US$5 billion in gold export revenue, creating employment for approximately one million people, the majority of whom are youth.
The initiative is informed by extensive research conducted by the World Gold Council in collaboration with partners including the World Bank, the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, and other key stakeholders such as the OECD, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), and the United Nations’ PlanetGOLD Programme.
The research focuses on addressing the operational, environmental, regulatory, and sustainability challenges confronting ASM, particularly the pollution of water bodies, land degradation, deforestation, and threats to biodiversity and human health in Ghana.
Speaking during the engagement, Chief Executive Officer of the World Gold Council, Mr. David Tait, underscored the organisation’s approach to identifying priority areas within Ghana’s gold value chain and assessing the viability of potential interventions before committing expertise and resources.
“What we have been trying to understand is how the pieces are put together in Ghana—where the priorities are and the degree of commitment, not just from institutions such as yourselves, but also from government, so that when we get involved, we are comfortable deploying resources where necessary,” he said
The establishment of commercial and sustainable gold processing plants is expected to significantly improve gold recovery rates while eliminating the use of mercury, a toxic substance widely associated with congenital diseases, water pollution, and soil degradation that renders farmlands infertile.
Beyond processing, the plants could also serve as hubs for technical support in areas such as safety, geology, and compliance, while creating regulatory “pinch points” that enhance state oversight and limit the influence of illicit and malign actors in the sector.
Mr. Sammy Gyamfi noted that the objectives of the World Gold Council align closely with GoldBod’s domestic mandate to sanitise the artisanal and small-scale mining sector, curb illegal financial flows, and reduce gold smuggling.
He welcomed the proposal, describing the processing plants as a potential game changer in addressing the environmental destruction caused by illegal mining activities, including the pollution of water bodies, loss of farmland, depletion of forest cover, and threats to biodiversity and human life.
“If we can have compliant processing plants here, we will reduce environmental damage, optimise recovery, and ensure that the state is able to efficiently mop up gold once it is processed,” he said.
The Ghana GoldBod, established by an Act of Parliament in 2025, is mandated as the sole authority responsible for buying, selling, weighing, grading, assaying, valuing, and exporting gold and other precious minerals in Ghana. Its central role in the gold value chain positions it as a key institutional partner within the World Gold Council’s broader initiative to upscale and formalise artisanal gold mining.
According to the World Gold Council, a commercially viable and responsibly managed processing plant could operate at a capacity of 50 to 100 tonnes per day in suitable contexts. This aligns with earlier views expressed by former Head of the European Union Delegation to Ghana, Ambassador William Hanna, who emphasised that Ghana’s ASM sector requires an efficient and responsible private sector, one capable not only of creating jobs for a growing population but also of transferring skills necessary for a transition towards a circular and sustainable mining economy.
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