GHANA is poised to increase its gold production by approximately 6.25% to around 5.1 million ounces in 2025, building on last year’s record output of 4.8 million oz, said Reuters citing the West African country’s Chamber of Mines.
Output has been propelled by strong artisanal mining performance and new large-scale operations, offsetting declines at ageing mines, said the newswire.
The 2025 forecast follows Ghana’s stronger-than-expected 2024 performance, when output surged 19.3%, cementing its position as Africa’s premier gold producer ahead of South Africa and Mali.
Rising precious metal prices have bolstered Ghana’s export revenues and strengthened the cedi, supporting recovery from its most severe economic crisis in a generation, said Reuters.
“We project gold output to range between 4.4 and 5.1 million oz, buoyed by increased contributions from Newmont’s Ahafo South Mine and Shandong’s Namdini Mine,” Chamber of Mines President Michael Akafia said in Accra.
Last year’s production was driven by a record 39.4% contribution from small-scale miners, whose operations face uncertainty from ongoing regulatory changes.
Ghana’s new government has established GoldBod to streamline gold purchases from small-scale miners and eliminated a withholding tax on local purchases.
“We’re looking at about 30% to 40% more production than the previous year,” said Godwin Armah, general secretary of the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners. “The removal of the withholding tax has helped reduce smuggling significantly.”
The Chamber projects small-scale output ranging between 1.5-2 million oz in 2025, compared with 1.9 million oz in 2024.
