Joshua Mortoti, the President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, has disclosed that Ghana has reclaimed its status as the largest gold producer in Africa, surpassing South Africa in the process.

During the annual general meeting, Joshua Mortoti, noted that last year, the country witnessed a remarkable 32 percent increase in gold production, allowing it to regain the top spot since 2021.

After experiencing a notable decline in output, Ghana had temporarily relinquished its position to South Africa in 2021.

However, the remarkable surge in gold production saw Ghana’s gold output rise to 3.7 million ounces in 2022, a substantial increase from the previous year’s 2.8 million ounces.

President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, meanwhile, attributed the achievement to the combined efforts of the small- and large-scale mining sector.

“The large-scale gold sub-sector recorded its highest output in the country’s history in 2022,” Joshua Mortoti, the President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, told members at the annual general meeting.

The Large-Scale Gold Sub-Sector

Joshua Mortoti highlighted that the large-scale gold sub- sector achieved its highest output in the country’s history last year. This feat, he said, was made possible by a combination of increased output and the expansion of production at existing mines.

The large-scale sector’s contribution to Ghana’s national gold output rose by 13% to reach 3.1 million ounces in 2022, compared to 2.7 million ounces in 2021.

Furthermore, Mortoti noted that member companies of the mines chamber had actively participated in the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme initiated by the Bank of Ghana. Through this program, he disclosed that they successfully sold over 77,620 ounces of gold, contributing to boosting the country’s gold reserves.

According to GlobalData, Ghana is the world’s eleventh-largest producer of gold, with output of 3,071koz in 2022, up by 9% on 2021. However, over the five years to 2021, production from Ghana decreased by a CAGR of 9.66% and is expected to rise by a CAGR of 1% between 2022 and 2026.

Ghana accounts for 3% of global production, with the other largest producers being China (11%), Australia (10%), Russia (8%) and Canada (7%).

Leading producers of gold in Ghana are Gold Fields, Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti and Kinross Gold. Gold Fields’s output was 873.73koz in 2021, up by 5% on 2020. Newmont produced 842.43koz, an increase of 1%, and output from AngloGold Ashanti was 210.28koz, a decrease of 20% on the previous year.

Gold is the most commercially exploited mineral in Ghana, accounting for about 95% of the country’s mineral revenue.

In 2020 alone, gold in Ghana contributed close to around 7.8 billion Ghanaian cedis (GHS), roughly 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The highest contribution was, however, registered in 2018, at approximately GHS9.5 billion.