Ghana returns to gold top spot as output jumps 32%

Afrika Gold AG

09/06/2023 15:29

ACCRA, June 9 (Reuters) - Ghana recorded a 32% increase
in gold production last year, enabling it to win back the top
spot from South Africa as the largest gold producer on the
continent, the president of the mines chamber said on Friday.
    Ghana lost the position to South Africa in 2021 after a
drastic fall in output.
    Gold output rose to 3.7 million ounces in 2022 from 2.8
million ounces the previous year, driven by growth in the output
of both large and small-scale sectors.
    "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.
    He said a combination of output and the expansion of
production at existing mines drove the large-scale sector’s
contribution to national gold output up by 13% to 3.1 million
ounces last year from 2.7 million ounces in 2021.
    Mortoti said member companies of the mines chamber had sold
over 77,620 ounces of gold under the Domestic Gold Purchase
Programme, a scheme launched by the Bank of Ghana to boost
reserves.

 (Reporting by Christian Akorlie; Editing by Anait Miridzhanian
and Louise Heavens)
 ((Anait.Miridzhanian@thomsonreuters.com;))