The CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr Ken Ashigbey, has warned that Ghana’s push to refine gold locally will impose additional costs on industry players.

He says the country must, however, accept some pain if it wants to derive greater value from its mineral resources.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, Dr Ashigbey said local content initiatives inevitably come with costs.

“But before I even get to the time scale, in terms of the issue about the cost, you know, and again, we should all realise the fact that you know, when you want to do these local content, it comes with some cost.”

He believes the burden cannot be left to mining companies alone.

“All of us need to chip in. The more we do in this country, and the more we all work together, government needs to put its skin in the game.”

Dr Ashigbey said government must review taxes and levies that add to the cost of refining.

“The issue, of course, is that it is coming from the taxes and the levies that are on; government would have to look at that, and I know that conversation is going on.”

He also wants private refinery owners to invest in technology that can bring down their operating costs.

“The issues of these private sector people who own the refineries in terms of the technology that they need to put in to be able to ensure that they reduce their cost, it’s something that we need to do.”

Energy costs, he said, are another major concern.

“The issues of even power, you know, currently the cost of power, so there might be some policy decisions that would have to be taken.”

He suggested that government could consider cheaper hydroelectric power for refineries because of their strategic importance.

“Because of the criticality of refineries, is it possible that in the energy mix, we will give them, you know, a lot more of the hydro that is cheaper?”

He also pointed to planned solar investments under the 24-hour economy as another potential way to reduce energy costs.

“The conversations, the 24-hour economy is thinking of putting together some solar, you know, large solar plants, you know, and which will reduce the cost of energy to around 3 to 4 cents per kilowatt-hour.”

GoldBod has directed Self-Financing Aggregators to refine gold doré in Ghana before export from September 1, 2026.

The directive means unrefined gold doré will no longer be approved for export. Refining must be done at a GoldBod-approved or designated refinery, with the cost borne by the aggregator or its approved offtaker.

The directive is part of a wider push for local value addition. GoldBod has also set a 2030 target for Ghana to achieve LBMA accreditation for at least one local refinery, while government seeks to end the export of raw minerals.

Dr Ashigbey says the objective is worth pursuing, but the transition must be managed collectively.

“So I think that this issue of beneficiation is a good thing for us, and, you know, all of us need to chip in.”

He stressed that government and industry must work together to limit the financial impact.

“But it has to be done collaboratively. Government need to embrace industry to all work together so that we all can reduce the cost of doing this, because we’re looking at the issues of value.”

He cited the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Programme as an example of the additional cost already being absorbed by large-scale miners.

“So there’s some pain again, like the large scale, for example, the GANRAP, we are starting with a 0.55 when we are doing a weighted average of 0.098.”

He said the country must therefore approach the policy as a collective national effort.

“So that’s some extra subsidisation that we’re doing for government, but we all need to work together as a collective, as a country, as investors working together with government to reduce the cost.”