The President of the Small Scale Miners Association has called on the government to applaud small-scale miners for their contribution to ensuring Ghana returns to the top spot in gold.

In an interview on Joy FM’s Newsnight on Monday, Michael Kojo Peprah said the positive report is due to private investments done by small-scale mining.

“So government should give us an applaud and as a matter of fact see the best way we can be partners and we can improve so that we can migrate from small scale to large scale,” he stated.

This comes after Ghana recorded a 32% increase in gold production last year, enabling it to win back the top spot from South Africa as the largest gold producer on the continent.

Ghana lost its position to South Africa in 2021 after a drastic fall in output.

Gold output rose to 3.7 million ounces in 2022 from 2.8 million ounces the previous year, driven by growth in the output of both large and small-scale sectors.

According to him, although the Minister acknowledged their contribution to this achievement, it is not enough.

This, he stated is because government has not contributed any quota in small-scale mining sector.

He noted that small-scale mining has helped to solve some of the unemployment issues in the country yet receives no partnership from government due to the “illegal aspect of the mining” although some are on the right path.

“This is a sector that has employed over 3 million Ghanaians and as a matter of fact we are producing almost 40%of the total gross production of gold in the country.”