Ghana has emerged as a prominent player in West Africa’s gold mining industry, ranking second only to South Africa in terms of gold production on the continent. Major companies like Gold Fields, Newmont, Kinross, and AngloGold Ashanti have found remarkable success in Ghana’s portion of the Birimian Greenstone Belts. With the industry maturing, larger players have come to dominate the mining landscape, contributing to the country’s substantial gold resources.

Gold Fields, a multinational mining company with operations in Australia, Ghana, Peru, and South Africa, entered the Ghanaian market 25 years ago. Through a series of acquisitions, the company now holds a 90% stake in the Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves for Tarkwa and Damang, while the Ghanaian Government holds the remaining 10%. In 2018, Gold Fields acquired a 50% stake in Asanko Gold Ghana, further strengthening its control over the country’s gold resources. The company’s annual gold-equivalent production amounts to approximately 2.2 million ounces.

Ranked as the third-largest gold mining company globally in terms of production, AngloGold Ashanti operates 14 mines and three exploration projects across Africa, Australasia, and the Americas. In Ghana, the company manages two wholly-owned operations located in the Ashanti and Western Regions. The Iduapriem mine, situated in the Western Region, operates as an open-pit mine with a CIP plant and gravity circuit. The Obuasi gold mine, located in the Ashanti region, has primarily been an underground operation but has been on care and maintenance. However, it is expected to resume gold production in the third quarter of 2019.

Kinross’s Chirano mine, located in the Western Region of Ghana, transitioned to a pure underground mine in 2017 and achieved a production of 246,027 Au eq. oz. in that year. Newmont’s Ahafo operation began commercial production in 2006, followed by Akyem seven years later. As the industry matures, mine owners and operators are increasingly focusing on reducing their environmental footprints, shifting towards underground or throughput operations, and emphasizing recovery and brownfield exploration to extend the mines’ lifespan.

To improve cost efficiency, companies moving underground and pursuing lower-grade deposits are adopting innovative approaches. Boart Longyear, a drilling services provider, is utilizing a “mother and daughter” approach in directional drilling, preserving the top 500m to 600m of drilling by branching off from a mother hole at 500m depth. Ghana’s exploration activity is primarily driven by larger companies, with limited greenfield exploration underway. The focus for service providers in the country lies in meeting the evolving needs of existing players as they strive to extend mine life and expand operations. While gold remains the primary mineral of interest, the Ghanaian government aims to reduce dependency on a single commodity and diversify its mining portfolio. Historically, Ghana has also extracted bauxite, diamonds, and manganese. The government’s diversification efforts now encompass base and clay metals, granites, solar salt, and recently, lithium. The country has joined the ranks of global lithium producers through agreements with companies like IronRidge Resources, which has discovered lithium deposits in Ghana’s southern region.

Despite success stories, several junior mining companies face challenges due to a lack of exploration incentives. Ghana’s mining code, designed with larger companies in mind, grants negotiation rights over taxes and royalties to investments exceeding US.