Mining companies repatriated over $4.2 billion from Ghana in 2023, the Ghana Chamber of Mines has revealed.

This is 1.4% more than the value of repatriation in 2022. 

A total of $2.7 billion was channelled through local banks, marginally lower than the value ($2.73bn) of the same transaction in 2022.

In 2022, about $1.41 billion was transferred through the Central Bank. The year 2023 recorded a slight increase of $1.5 billion.

“On the whole, the Chamber’s producing member companies repatriated $4.2 billion into the country through the commercial banks and the Bank of Ghana in 2023. Relative to their realized mineral revenue of $5.9 billion in 2023, the repatriated funds of the Chamber’s producing member companies translated into 71.3% of their forex earnings”, it revealed in its 2023 Mining Report.

In 2023, the producing member companies of the Ghana Chamber of Mines sold $716.97 million to the Bank of Ghana under the forex purchase initiative. This arrangement gives it the first right to purchase any forex above the MSR to be offloaded onto the forex market by mining firms.

Also, the volume of gold sold to the Central Bank under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP) improved from 93,799 ounces in 2022 to 447,492 ounces in 2023. This represented a growth rate of 377.1%.

Also, data from the Bank of Ghana shows that receipts from the export of minerals improved from $6.8 billion in 2022 to $7.8 billion in 2023.

The 15.0% growth in mineral revenue was ascribed to the increase in proceeds from the export of all minerals, except manganese.

Mineral production outlook for 2024

Meanwhile, Ghana’s mineral sector is expected to record broad-based growth in the production and exports of the four traditional minerals.

The production of gold is projected to range between 4.3 million ounces and 4.5 million ounces in 2024. 

The report continued that it expects new productions by some members of the Chamber to boost production.

“Fresh production from Newmont’s Ahafo North project and Cardinal Resource’s Namdini Gold Mine will supplement the planned production of the existing producing member companies’ mines, which will increase the attributable production of the Chamber to a range of 3.1 million ounces to 3.3 million ounces in 2024.”