Ghana, Africa’s top gold producer, has launched its most aggressive mining audit in a decade, targeting top miners to recover lost revenue and tighten oversight, a government letter seen by Reuters shows.

Governments across West Africa are intensifying scrutiny of mining firms to enforce compliance with regulations and safeguard revenue from soaring commodity prices.

Spot gold prices hit a record above $4,380 a troy ounce on October 20.

The audit will cover major gold miners, including top producer Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Perseus, Asante Gold and China's Zijin.

It will be led by government auditors, forensic accountants, and independent consultants, according to an October 13 government letter from the regulatory Minerals Commission sent to mining companies via the Ghana Chamber of Mines.

Industry regulator, the Minerals Commission, is deploying teams for the nationwide physical and financial audit from November 1 to June 2026 to scrutinise production volumes, mineral flows, tax and royalty payments and environmental compliance.

Miners must submit 10 years' worth of production logs, 3 years of financial records, all permits, stockpiles and shipping manifests by October 31.

Company-specific reports are due within 30 days of each site visit, the letter said.

The Minerals Commission declined to comment. The mines ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

TRUE REVENUE POTENTIAL

The world's second-largest cocoa producer will generate 17.7 billion Ghanaian Cedis ($1.68billion) by 2024. This is due to a 25.1% increase in gold production, which helped stabilise the economy following its worst crisis for a generation.

Ghana, which exports bauxite and diamonds, as well as manganese and diamonds, expects its gold production to increase to 5.1 million ounces from 4.8.

The letter from the commission details a phased auditory, starting with Gold Fields Damang mine in November and Perseus, Canada-based Xtra-Gold Kibi unit by late June 2026.

An executive from one of the companies, who asked not to be identified, said that individual companies received letters detailing the schedule.

AngloGold Ashanti did not respond immediately to comments from Asante Gold. Gold Fields, Newmont. Perseus. Xtra-Gold. Zijin.

Chamber of Mines did not respond immediately either.

Ghana audited the mining sector last in 2015, with external investigators' help, but some companies disputed the findings. A source familiar with this process said.

Said Boakye is an economist at the Accra-based Institute for Fiscal Studies and a research fellow. He said that special audits should not be performed periodically but every year.

It's the only method to develop a sound tax policy and unlock the true revenue potential of the sector.

The government has implemented sweeping reforms in order to increase returns.

The country's mines ministry said that the country would shorten the licence terms and implement direct revenue sharing with host communities. This is the most ambitious overhaul of mining laws in almost 20 years.