Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister of Lands and Natural Resource
As part of measures to add value to Ghana’s natural resources, discussions are ongoing with Rand Refinery of South Africa, a London Bullion Marketing Association (LBMA) Referee, for the country to secure certification to easily export and trade refined gold on the international market.
The LBMA certificate is significant to the government’s plan to develop the mineral industry, and make Ghana a big player in refining mineral resources.
Speaking at the Ministers’ Press Briefing organised by the Information Ministry yesterday in Accra, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, disclosed that beyond that, the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) is now able to produce gold tablets, engrave and plate jewellery. He said this will be a major boost for their work.
“The plan, going forward, is to establish a Gold Souk, a marketplace for manufacturing and marketing of gold articles, here in Ghana,” he said.
Results
Again, Mr Abu Jinapor said the transformative policies set in motion by the government in the mining sector are yielding positive results.
He disclosed that the decision by the government to reduce the withholding tax on unprocessed gold from small-scale mining firms had resulted in a meteoric rise in gold export from the sector.
“Last year, government reduced withholding tax on unprocessed gold by small-scale miners, which was introduced in 2015, from three percent to one point five percent. This has resulted in a massive increment in gold exports from small-scale mining, from 3,429.91oz in 2021 to 22,158.25oz in 2022, that is over 500% increment”, he said.
He said the reformation of the small-scale mining sector, which is manifested in the fight against illegal mining, had led to the reduction of turbidity level of some major water bodies in the country which were hitherto polluted by galamsey activities.
On development in the large-scale mining space, the Minister announced the arrival of the four new companies which will start production “within the next two years”.
“For over a decade now, we have not had any new large-scale mining operation in the country. Happily, following significant investments in exploration, four new large-scale mining operations will start production within the next two and half years, including the mining of lithium, one of the critical minerals required for the green energy transition,” he said.
Earthquake preparedness
When asked about Ghana’s readiness to tackle an earthquake, Mr Abu Jinapor told pressmen that a taskforce put together by government had formulated a robust earthquake preparedness strategy for the country.
According to him, the current strategy has been extensively examined, and is fit for purpose. He added that the government was working around the clock to ensure that the country can withstand such natural disasters if they occur.
“Government has put in place a taskforce, chaired by the Minister of Interior, (Ambrose Dery). They have done tremendous work, and they have done a whole lot of work on Ghana’s earthquake preparedness strategy. And it’s been to Cabinet several times, it’s been examined and interrogated many times. Indeed, we now have an earthquake preparedness strategy that I believe is fit for a purpose,” he stated.
He urged Ghanaians to pray to avert any possible earthquakes saying, “I think one of the areas of preparedness is to pray because matters of an earthquake can be in the hands of the Lord. “It’s an act of God; we are a God-fearing country, and the good Lord has been so good to us. Let’s continue to hope so,” the Minister said.
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