The Director of Gold Coast Refinery, Sampson Nortey has decried the woeful state of Ghana's only gold refinery which is currently producing at an average of 5% of its capacity.
The refinery has an installed capacity of 600 kg of gold per day and 180 metric tons per annum. In addition, it also has the capacity to smelt about 150 kg of both dore and refined gold simultaneously.
Pointing out some reasons for the alarming low performance, Mr Nortey highlighted low stock of gold received from the market a major contributor to the current state of the gold refinery.
“Due to the strict regulations to the source of gold input for the refineries on the international market, it is impossible for the company to buy from illegal producers unlike their counterparts from India,†he said.
He called on government to intervene in enhancing the refinery’s access to raw gold, by enforcing such measures as a compulsory value addition of at least 20% by large-scale gold producers in Ghana before exportation.
Mr Nortey said, “last year the country was able to make an output of about 100 metric tons of gold, so if we have an installed capacity to refine 180 metrics tons per annum that should be more than the total production of the country†and would effectively resolve the below production capacity issue.
Earlier this year - Minister of Trade & Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, during a visit to the refinery expressed government’s resolve to provide needed support for the gold refinery to take its rightful place in the West African market.
There has however been no substantial follow up on how the government intends to deliver on that promise to the gold refinery ever since.