
Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia yesterday assured the commitment of government to collaborating with the board and management of Rand Refinery to help Ghana obtain London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Certification.
The certification will enable Ghana refine gold, and add value to its earnings in raw gold and other minerals.
Dr Bawumia gave the assurance when the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, led the delegation from Rand Refinery to call on him in Accra.
The meeting was to deliberate on ways of actualizing government’s agenda to make Ghana a hub for the processing and refining of mineral resources as a major global actor recognised under the LBMA Certification.
The LBMA certificate, Dr Bawumia underscored, is important in developing the mineral industry, and to make Ghana a key player in the refinery of mineral resources
Dr. Bawumia stated that the gamut of experience and expertise of Rand Refinery makes it a strategic and beneficial partner to Ghana. He therefore believes that partnering the firm will help the country evade the blunders that other endowed countries committed on their journey to creating refinery hubs in their mining sector.
Collaboration
For his part, the Chairman of Rand Refinery, Rams Ramashira, disclosed that his outfit had held positive preliminary talks with the Ministry and other key stakeholders, and “we are very happy to be of assistance and share some experiences and strike some alliances.”
He also hoped the meeting with key stakeholders would help develop something concrete for the two parties.
He indicated that his invitation to the Rand Refinery is to have them hold discussions, and share ideas on how to move forward with the partnership that exists between the parties. He advocated an intelligent and effective collaboration between the government and LBMA to ensure that the certification is issued.
Mr Ramashira took the team through the itinerary for the visit, and hoped that it would be a fruitful one as they had the opportunity to meet the Vice-President who he said had been very passionate about leveraging the gold industry and the gold value chain in Ghana in support of the national economy.
“The idea is that this visit is productive and substantive, and that it gives us the opportunity to delve into the concrete issues with concrete outcomes,” he said.
Refinery tour
The sector Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, thanked the team for their hospitality during his last visit to their Refinery in South Africa, indicating that the tour of their refinery was very enlightening and educative.
He hoped that at the end of all meetings and discussions the Ministry would be able to acquire sufficient mentorship from Rand Refinery.
“We should be able to find a workable platform to engage because your refinery turns to be the leader when it comes to the business of Gold Refinery in Africa and therefore whatever we seek to do, here in Ghana, our idea is to get sufficient mentorship from your outfit,” Mr Jinapor said.
He said, as much as possible, it is his desire that Rand Refinery will be able to establish a branch in Ghana, perhaps, through a partnership with an existing refinery.
The CEO of Rand Refinery, Praveen Baijnath, for his part, expressed excitement over the expected opportunity to partner Ghana on the event of establishing a refinery in the country.
He explained that their general objective on this trip is to meet all stakeholders involved in the gold value chain to better understand government expectations, and to consider how best they can unlock their assets for mutual benefit with global partners.
“Our general strategic objective is to collect much intelligence and data as possible to build a business case and see how we can develop it,” he indicated.