The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, says Ghana is set to begin implementing a national gold traceability system this year to track gold purchased from small-scale miners.

According to him, the absence of a formal traceability system has meant that GoldBod currently cannot determine what proportion of the gold it purchased from small-scale miners was responsibly mined.

Mr Gyamfi made the disclosure in response to questions about GoldBod’s purchase of 3.1 million ounces of gold from small-scale miners, compared with 2.8 million ounces produced by the large-scale mining sector.

Asked what percentage of the 3.1 million ounces could be traced to responsibly mined gold, he told 'Beyond The Numbers' Isaac Kofi Agyei that there was currently no component that could be traced.

“There is no component that we can trace because since Ghana started mining gold and trading gold, no government has pursued a traceability system,” he said on JoyNews.

He, however, noted that GoldBod has developed a responsible sourcing policy which prioritises traceability and is now taking steps to implement a system capable of tracking gold from its point of origin.

“We are currently involved in a national competitive tendering process to acquire that traceability technology. Following which, the onboarding process of eligible licensed small-scale miners or registered cooperatives will begin,” he explained.

Mr Gyamfi said 27 companies submitted bids for the traceability system, with the process now narrowed to about 17 companies following the completion of the technical evaluation.

“We're going onto the financial proposal to evaluate that, and then we'll be awarded. I don't think that the process will go beyond this year for the system, and we will get a system done in the next few months,” he said.

He stressed, however, that acquiring the technology would only constitute the first stage of the process.

According to him, the system is expected to eventually enable GoldBod to trace every gram of gold it purchases and sells back to its mine of origin.

The system will also help establish whether the source is licensed, how the gold was produced, whether mercury was used and whether child labour was involved.

Mr Gyamfi said the broader objective is to formalise gold production and bring Ghana's small-scale mining supply chain into compliance with international responsible-sourcing standards.

He believes this will strengthen Ghana's ability to access premium international markets, including the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), and secure better prices for the country's gold.

“How can we formalize those sources to be OECD compliant so that we can get LBMA market access for our gold and get better prices, better value, which means more revenue from our gold resources?” he asked.

He added that the onboarding of eligible small-scale miners onto the system is expected to begin this year.

“So that is what we are developing, and I can tell you that the system we acquired this year and implementation in terms of onboarding will start this year,” Mr Gyamfia added.