Ghana’s total volume of gold produced fell to 4.023 million ounces in 2020 compared to the 4.577 million ounces produced in 2019.
This represents a 12 percent drop in the country’s gold production as contained in the 2022 mining sector report by the Extractive Industries and Transparent Initiative (EITI).
Per the report not only did Ghana record a decline in the levels of gold production but also the contribution of the mining and extractive sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) saw a marginal drop to 7.6 percent in 2020 as against 2019’s 7.8 percent.
In monetary terms, the real valued added by the sector fell from GHS 13.308 billion in 2029 to GHS 11.449 billion in 2020 representing a 13.97 percent reduction.
The fall in gold output is attributable to a concurrent contraction in the output of large- and small-scale gold producers.
The quantum of gold attributable to the large-scale sector declined from 2.989 million ounces in 2019 to 2. 847 million ounces in 2020 which translates into a 4.8 percent year-on-year drop in production.
The reduction in the sub-sector’s outputs was mainly due to a string of downturns in the production of most large-scale mines which was in turn explained by a combination of mine-specific factors and spillover effects of COVID-19.
Other statistics
Proceeds from the export of minerals increased from US$ 6.678 billion in 2019 to US$ 6.998 billion in 2020.
This translates into a 4.8 percent year-on-year expansion in mineral revenue.
The total number of persons employed by the large-scale mines as of 2020 was 34,363.
This comprised 8,760 direct employees and 25,603 contractors.
The proportion of Ghanaians in the workforce was 98.7 percent.
Fast forward to 2021, gold output sharply dropped by 46.76 percent having recorded 2.818 million ounces.
Production for 2022, is estimated at 2.695 million as at the end of September 2022.
The volume of manganese produced also decreased from 5.383 million tonnes in 2019 to 2.358 million tonnes in 2020, representing a decline of 56 percent.
Bauxite production however increased from 1.116 million tonnes in 2019 to 1.162 million tonnes in 2020, recording a 4 percent year-on-year growth in its output.
