Ghana, in 2020 lost its position as the second largest recipient of investments in gold exploration on the continent.
This is according to the 2020 Annual Report of the Ghana Chamber of Mines.
Ghana lost the position to Burkina Faso who in turn lost its enviable position as the largest recipient of investments in gold exploration on the African Continent.
In first and third place are Cote d’Ivoire and Mali respectively.
Cote d’Ivoire’s rise to first place, the Chamber notes is due to a significant increase in budgetary allocation for gold exploration in Cote D’Ivoire – around $105 million.
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Total planned gold exploration expenditure in Africa for 2020, according to the Chamber amounted to $590 million.
A reduction by some $25.9 million when compared to the $615.9 million spent by gold mining firms in 2019 – fall in exploration expenditure can be partially attributed to the impact of Covid.
Gold production volume in Ghana fell by 12.1 percentage points in 2020, the lowest in the last sixteen (16) years – since 2004.
Gold production dropped to 4.02 million ounces in 2020 from 4.57 million ounces in 2019.
But despite the fall, the country however, retained its position as Africa’s top gold producer and sixth biggest producer in the world.
Ghana closest rival and long-term leading producer, South Africa, also recorded a 13.7 per cent decline in production at 91 tonnes and remained in second place on the continent and tenth globally.
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It was not all gloomy on the continent, as Ghana’s West Africa neighbours, Burkina Faso, recorded a 19 per cent increase in production to 74 tonnes on the back of increased production levels by that country’s leading gold producers.
With a combined output, Africa in 2020 accounted for 21 percent of global mine production.
Aside gold, the volume of other minerals such as manganese produced by Ghana’s sole producer, Ghana Manganese Company, declined from 5.383 million tonnes in 2019 to 2.358 million tonnes in 2020.
The 56.2 percent drop in production was primarily due to the government’s directive to stop the company’s operation in the year under review, resulting in the suspension of manganese production in the first quarter of 2020.
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For diamonds, the downward trend in the purchases continued unabated due to the suspension of production by the only large-scale producer, Great Consolidated Diamond Company.
In essence, diamond purchases in 2020 reduced by 25.1 per cent to 25,292 carats from 33,789 carats in 2019. Additionally, Ghana’s sole producer of bauxite, the Ghana Bauxite Company, recorded a 4.1 per cent improvement in its output.
The expansion in the shipment of bauxite from 1.116 million tonnes in 2019 to 1.162 million tonnes in 2020 was principally due to an improvement in its operational activities
