en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Ghanaian government is adjusting its gold reserve accumulation mechanism, planning to raise the proportion of annual gold production that large mining companies must sell to the central bank from the previous 20% to 30%. Several mining companies told Reuters that negotiations on key commercial terms remain incomplete. Paul Bleboo, head of the Bank of Ghana's gold management program, revealed last Thursday that efforts are underway to reach new supply arrangements with industrial gold mining firms, with all deliveries to be made in the form of unrefined rough gold.
As Africa's largest gold producer, Ghana has had an agreement since 2022, reached through the Ghana Chamber of Mines, for companies to supply gold reserves to the central bank at 20% of their annual production. According to Bank of Ghana data, the nation's gold reserves had risen to 19.2 tons as of February this year. Bleboo also pointed out that the total output reported externally by industrial gold mining companies in 2025 was approximately 100 tons, but the actual gold reserves delivered to the central bank were only about 10 tons, accounting for 10%, significantly lower than the previously agreed 20%. In February 2026, the Ghanaian government proposed increasing gold reserves to 157 tons by 2028, estimated to cover approximately 15 months of the nation's import needs.
Bleboo emphasized: "This time we plan to negotiate and finalize, requiring industrial gold mining companies to hand over 30% of their annual production, and all of this 30% gold must be delivered in the form of rough gold." According to the arrangement, the state-owned institution, the Gold Board (GoldBod), will become the unified window for all gold exports. Companies exporting directly will need to reserve 30% of the rough gold for the central bank. Bleboo stated that the industrial gold purchase price differential of less than 1% set when acquiring gold will be used to cover costs such as refining, transportation, and purity testing. Bank of Ghana financial data shows that the bank recorded an operating loss of approximately 15.6 billion Ghanaian cedis (about 1.37 billion US dollars) in 2025.
Kenneth Ashigbey, CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, stated that consultations on the gold pricing mechanism and discount issues are progressing slowly. A mining executive pointed out that companies oppose setting the discount ratio based on production volume and disagree with excluding associated minerals like silver from the value calculation. Industry insiders indicated that the central bank's proposed approximately 1% purchase discount is equivalent to a disguised tax, and that companies, having formulated their business plans based on the previous 20% delivery ratio, face difficulties in raising it to 30% in the short term, preferring a gradual transition.
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