Government plans to roll out state-of-the-art gold processing centres tailored for small-scale mining cooperatives are gathering momentum, with the initial batch of facilities scheduled to go live in the first quarter of 2027. The intervention seeks to revamp recovery rates across artisanal operations while sharply curbing the sector’s long-standing reliance on toxic chemicals.
Under the current conventional methods involving mercury and cyanide, small-scale operators manage to extract only a fraction of the precious metal embedded in their ore. The planned facilities are engineered to raise recovery yields from roughly 30 per cent to around 70 per cent, giving registered miners significantly higher returns from the same quantity of raw material while drastically cutting down environmental contamination.
Disclosing the development on the sidelines of the Mining in Motion Summit in Accra, the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Dr Yusif Sulemana, underscored the transformational impact the project would have on local mining communities.
“As it stands now, we are told that 30% is what they get when they use mercury and cyanide. But if they use these facilities that we are asking them to agree to use, they will be recovering about 70%,” he explained.
Private sector interest in the blueprint has picked up quickly, with several investment proposals already submitted to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. To accelerate the setup, the government is preparing to execute binding memoranda of understanding with prospective investors to clear administrative hurdles and speed up construction.
Joining the drive is the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), which has signaled its intention to help facilitate the rollout. Beyond improving efficiency, the central purchasing body views the processing hubs as a vital conduit to enhance gold traceability and bring hundreds of informal miners into the formal economy.
The setup of these centres aligns with a broader state policy aimed at enforcing regulated, eco-friendly extraction practices. As a key benchmark leading up to the 2027 deployment, sector authorities are targeting the formal registration of nearly 100 small-scale mining cooperatives by the close of 2026.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
