GOLD Fields responded to speculation it was set to lose the Tarkwa mine in Ghana saying on Monday it was “well positioned” to continue operating it.
Bloomberg News reported on June 19 that Ghana’s government was considering handing control of the mine to local companies when the operation’s leases expire in April. This is despite negotiations currently underway between Ghana and Gold Fields regarding the renewal of the mining lease.
Gold Fields said it had held several meetings with Ghana’s government since its “early application” in November for the renewal of five Tarkwa mining leases. It was therefore “well positioned … to continue operating and growing the Tarkwa mine beyond the current life of mine,” the group said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Gold Fields announced discussions with Ghana would proceed with the sides agreeing to principles of transparency and good governance.
Despite these comments, it is clear there is major jeopardy for Gold Fields in Ghana. Minerals Commission CEO Isaac Andrews Tandoh said in May that while Ghana was committed to renewing the lease, “it won’t be business as usual”. Gold Fields had to present its development plans to a technical committee at the Minerals Commission, followed by a ministerial-level presentation before any decision is made, he said.
Tarkwa is critical to Gold Fields. The mine yielded 474,500 ounces which comprised about a fifth of 2.44 million in group gold equivalent ounces production in 2025.
Last year, Ghana’s rejected Gold Fields’ application to renew the lease for the Damang mine, after which the government assumed operational control of the asset.
Some civil society and community groups have called on authorities to take a similar approach to Tarkwa, arguing that host communities have not shared sufficiently in the mine’s benefits. These calls have been heightened by xenophobic attacks on Ghana nationals in South Africa related to anti-immigration activism.
More than 2,700 people from Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique and Malawi have been assisted to return home from South Africa amid fears that anti-immigrant demonstrations could escalate, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month. Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has called on the African Union to debate the treatment of African migrants in South Africa.
