LBMA Goes to Ghana: Shining a Light on ASM
Throughout 2023, research was underway on seven countries that promised the most opportunity for the Good Delivery List (GDL) to responsibly source artisanal and small-scale mined (ASM) and traded gold. One of these countries was Ghana. In November 2023, Neil Harby (Chief Technical Officer, LBMA) and Dr Tom Salter (Consultant, Phuzumoya Consulting) travelled to Ghana as part of a larger delegation invited by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene (Ashanti King), and met with numerous stakeholders.
In March 2024, a large Ghanaian delegation attended LBMA and the World Gold Council’s Sustainability & Responsible Sourcing Summit, where the Bank of Ghana informed attendees that it is operating a programme that sources gold from Ghanaian large-scale mining and responsibly sourced small-scale mining, which is then refined by Good Delivery List Members and used to increase the country’s foreign reserves.
A challenge was issued to the Minerals Commission to develop a list of Community Mining Schemes and small-scale mines that might withstand the due diligence of prospective GDL Refiners applying LBMA’s new ASM toolkit.
Following this, a delegation of LBMA representatives returned to Ghana from 26 May to 8 June 2024. It was a packed few days in which the team met with various companies, visited sites, and carried out process reviews – all as part of LBMA’s mission to incorporate more ASM material into the global precious metals supply chain. The first day of the trip was highly encouraging, as meetings with various companies revealed just how enthusiastically ASM is being accepted. The Bank of Ghana is already working with an accredited aggregator to source gold from a small-scale mine a little north of Bunso in the Eastern Region, several hundred kilos of which had already been refined by MKS PAMP for the Bank of Ghana’s Gold for Reserves programme.
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources emphasised that responsible small-scale mined gold being refined by GDL Refiners was “the right thing to do”; and Newmont, a member of the LBMA and World Gold Council ASM Task Force, recognised that global stakeholders now view ASM as an effective response to global policy alleviation and advised that its policy, while still to resist illegal ASM, had expanded to include the exploration of new ways to engage with responsible and legal ASM.
Room for improvement was noted during a meeting with the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners; in particular the miners highlighted the apparent inability of responsible supply chains to match the capacity of other less legally compliant supply chains to provide miners like themselves with quick and relatively affordable finance. Additionally, and to their frustration, the authorisation of small-scale mining licence applications approved by the Minerals Commission had been declining for some time, further impeding the growth of legal small-scale mining production and trade.
What’s more, a meeting with the Minerals Commission revealed that not all Community Mining Schemes proclaimed by the local communities had been licensed by the Commission and, therefore, were operating illegally. However, the Minerals Commission pledged to provide its full support, providing information on the offending areas upon request.
The team visited and carried out evaluations of various small-scale mines in Ghana using LBMA’s ASM Toolkit, designed to provide guidance to the industry, and in the interest of spreading the word they even managed to attend the West Africa Mining and Power Conference (WAMPOC). Here, they were able to have an informal discussion with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as well as a virtual discussion with representatives of the World Bank in Washington and Accra. The World Bank explained the work it is doing with ASM in Ghana, and in response the team shared the Toolkit with the Bank and discussed how both companies’ work on ASM might connect.
Overall, the trip to Ghana was an enlightening one that yielded positive findings. While there is still room for improvement, progress has certainly been made, thanks in no small part to LBMA’s ASM Toolkit. The Toolkit has proven itself to be a useful tool for small-scale mines across Ghana, and should be completed steadily over a period of time using appropriate and effective research techniques, rather than being treated as a checklist. LBMA is thrilled to have played its part in the continued development of responsibly sourced ASMs in Ghana and is glad to see the work continue to progress. Stay tuned to find out more about the upcoming outreach visit to Peru as part of the same programme of activity.
Source: https://www.lbma.org.uk/