Global Gold Council Collaborates with Ghana in $11B Illegal Mining Initiative Cape Coast, Ghana – The World Gold Council has announced a strategic partnership with the Government of Ghana to combat the multi-billion-dollar problem of illegal gold mining.
The initiative, aimed at curbing environmental damage and economic loss, reflects the global gold industry’s commitment to responsible practices and sustainable development.
The partnership focuses on formalizing artisanal and small — scale mining (ASM), addressing the unregulated gold extraction that has plagued Ghana’s gold sector for decades. With gold prices reaching record highs, the illegal mining has intensified, with significant impacts on the nation’s economy and environment. Under the collaboration, the World Gold Council will provide support for capacity building, training, and educational programs for artisanal mining communities.
It will also help in the development of traceability and origin verification technology to enhance supply chain integrity. Ghana Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah emphasized the importance of this collaboration: “By working with the World Gold Council, we are strengthening our efforts to improve the formalisation of ASM, eliminate harmful practices, and ensure that the benefits of Ghana’s gold resources are realized by our communities and our nation as a whole. “Ghana has lost an estimated 229 metric tons of gold worth around $11.
4 billion over five years due to unrecorded exports. This discrepancy has been primarily attributed to Dubai being the primary destination for smuggled gold, as noted in a report by Swis.
The partnership with the World Gold Council is part of a broader push by the Ghanaian government to control and regulate its gold sector, including small — scale and artisanal mining operations. This has involved measures such as diverting a significant amount of ASM gold into official trade channels and establishing a local gold refining capacity under a technical partnership with South Africa’s Rand Refinery.
As Ghana aims to stabilize its economy by capitalizing on the high gold prices, this initiative is a critical step towards ensuring the benefits of the country’s gold resources are channeled into sustainable development and the economic growth of the nation.
*Additional reporting by ImNews | Sources consulted: 5*
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This original article was produced by the ImNews editorial team
Source: Africa.businessinsider
Source: Chinedu Okafor
