The Ministry of Lands & Natural Resources in collaboration with the Ghana Gold Expo Foundation and the Western Regional Coordinating Council has officially announced the date for this year’s Ghana Mining Expo.

The event is scheduled to take place from the 13th to the 15th of July 2023 at the Takoradi Club House in the Western Region of Ghana.

Ghana has a long history in the gold and minerals industry in Africa and has emerged as a leading producer of gold in the world. The country’s success in the industry can be attributed to factors such as lower-cost mines, favorable policies, and new development projects.

While Ghana leads in gold mining in Africa, the mining industry as a whole faces significant challenges and opportunities for new entrants. The sector is grappling with issues such as illegal mining activities, high taxes, and high exploration costs for both large and small-scale companies, which hinder the growth of the sector.

The Ghana Mining Expo serves as a platform for sharing ideas, opinions, and thoughts on investment opportunities and challenges in the African gold sector. The expo aims to implement strategies for accelerated growth in mining and ensure resilience in all aspects of Africa’s economic development.

The forum provides a formal dialogue among stakeholders, including government representatives at the local, national, and international levels. It focuses on critical environmental issues, investment capital, intelligence and ideas, indicators to measure well-being in mining communities, ASM (Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining) gold formalization, central bank domestic purchase programs in Africa, mining investment and the challenges of raising ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards in Ghana, corporate social responsibility (CSR), finance masterclasses for small-scale and community mining, and mine tailing development.

Various Topics To Be Covered

The three-day conference will cover various topics, including investment capital, intelligence and ideas, indicators to measure well-being in mining regions, ASM gold formalization, central bank domestic purchase programs in Africa, mining investment and the challenges of raising ESG standards in Ghana, CSR and ESG legal framework, and trade and finance masterclasses for small-scale and community mining.

The President of Ghana will deliver a keynote address highlighting sustainable mineral resource development and the well-being of mining communities. Ghana is rich in economic mineral resources, including gold, diamond, manganese, bauxite, clay, kaolin, mica, columbite-tantalite, feldspar, chrome, silica sand, quartz, salt, iron ore, copper, and the newly discovered lithium, which the government is considering producing in commercial quantities.

The objective of sustainable minerals development is to ensure that mineral use is minimized while avoiding negative impacts on economic growth. The mining sector in Ghana aims to identify green mineral resources that can contribute to the economy, society, a safe environment, job creation, and the supply of raw materials essential to various sectors of the economy.

The South African Minister for Mines and Energy, Honorable Gwede Mantashe, will be the special guest of honor at the 2023 Ghana Mining Expo. Other notable attendees include the Minister for Lands & Natural Resources, Honorable Samuel A Jinapor – Mp – Damongo, and the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah. The event expects to host over 1,500 participants.

Dr. Steven Blessing Ackah, the Executive Director of the Ghana Gold Expo Foundation, expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation with the Ministry of Lands & Natural Resources and emphasized the importance of mining activities as the foundation of society and Ghana’s development. He also highlighted the need for a national framework to ensure the well-being of mining communities.