Sammy Gyamfi shaking hands with Dr. Said Deraz
The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has signed an agreement with Gold Coast Refinery to refine one metric tonne (1,000 kilogrammes) of gold locally every week.
This is aimed at adding value to gold exports beginning February 1, 2026.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Accra yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, said the agreement with Gold Coast Refinery and its partner, Rand Refinery, forms part of government’s broader strategy to ensure that gold exported from Ghana undergoes full value addition.
He explained that Rand Refinery of South Africa, which is the only London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)-accredited refinery in Africa, is expected to strengthen technical and managerial capacity and support the country’s efforts to establish its own LBMA-accredited refinery.
According to Mr. Gyamfi, a visit by GoldBod officials to Gold Coast Refinery last year revealed that the facility, described as the largest gold refinery in the sub-region, was operating far below its installed capacity.
This, he said, was largely due to the fact that more than 99 percent of the country’s gold exports from both small-scale and large-scale mining are shipped abroad in raw form.
“As a government, it did not make sense that we would have such a critical national asset and yet continue exporting almost all our gold without refining it locally,” he said.
“This prompted discussions with the refinery to revive its operations and integrate it fully into Ghana’s gold value chain,” he added.
Mr. Gyamfi said the partnership signals government’s commitment not only to local refining, but to doing so sustainably, with full traceability and in strict compliance with LBMA guidelines.
He noted that the collaboration would result in a significant presence of Rand Refinery in Ghana and accelerate the country’s journey towards establishing its first LBMA-accredited refinery.
He explained that the agreement, which has undergone rigorous scrutiny by the GoldBod governing board and the sector minister, will be implemented in phases, with the ultimate objective of achieving total local refining of all gold exported from Ghana.
Under the agreement, gold refined locally will achieve a minimum purity of 99.5 percent, with the refinery capable of producing even higher grades.
He added that the state holds a 15 percent free carried interest in Gold Coast Refinery, held in trust by the Ghana Gold Board.
Highlighting the benefits of the deal, Mr. Gyamfi said local refining would retain millions of dollars currently paid to foreign refineries, create direct and indirect jobs in line with government’s 24-Hour Economy policy, increase tax revenues and boost foreign exchange earnings.
He added that the agreement would address long-standing issues of purity losses and undervaluation of gold exports by enabling fire assay, the global gold standard, to be conducted locally before and after refining.
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Gold Coast Refinery, Dr. Said Deraz, said the facility, commissioned in November 2016, had faced operational challenges in the past, but the agreement marked a turning point towards full-scale operations.
He said Gold Coast Refinery is a modern, fully equipped facility with the capacity to process up to 180 metric tonnes of gold annually and holds all required licences to refine gold from ethical and responsible sources.
Dr. Deraz confirmed that the refinery has concluded a technical, operational and commercial partnership with Rand Refinery, which will significantly accelerate Ghana’s efforts to establish its first LBMA-accredited gold refinery.
“With this agreement, Gold Coast Refinery will receive gold from the Ghana Gold Board, refine it locally and export the finished product.
“This value addition will increase export earnings, create jobs and support Ghana’s industrialisation agenda,” he said.
The ceremony was attended by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ken Ashigbey; the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Yusif Sulemana; the Board Chairman of GoldBod, Kojo Fynn; and other key stakeholders in the gold value chain.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah