Ghana loses its title as Africa's leading gold producer after output dropped over 30% in 2021.
From 4.022 million ounces in 2020, gold production fell to 2.818 million ounces in 2021, the lowest amount since 2008.
The President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr Joshua Mortoti, said that the dip in production was due to parallel cutbacks in the output of major and small-scale gold miners.
The contribution of the large-scale subsector to national gold output declined to 2.720 million ounces in 2021, down from 2.847 million ounces in 2020.
The loss in the subsector's contribution, according to Mr Mortoti, is related to a general drop in output in most of the main mines.
In addition, small-scale producers' output fell by 91.66 percent from 1.175 million ounces in 2020 to 0.098 million ounces in 2021.
Mr Mortoti explained that "the near collapse in the subsector's output was mostly a consequence of the producers' response to the government's introduction of a 3% withholding tax on their output in 2019."
"Anecdotal information reveals that the impost did not result in the closure of operations," he said, "it is thought that it drove small scale miners and Licensed Gold Exporting Companies (LGECs) to export their produce through non-official channels."
On the other side, the output of Ghana Bauxite Company, the country's sole bauxite producer, fell from 1.162 million tonnes in 2020 to 0.839 million tonnes in 2021.
The reduction in output was partly due to the uncertainties surrounding the operator of the mine, Bosai Minerals Group, renewing its lease.
On the plus side, diamond shipments increased for the first time since 2014. The quantity of diamonds shipped through PMMC, the Kimberly Process's implementer, increased by 114.20 percent.
The rise in exports from 25,292 carats in 2020 to 54,174 carats in 2021 was mostly due to strong recoveries by artisanal winners, who have been the sole producers of that mineral since the only large-scale producer (Great Consolidated Diamond Company) was placed under "care and maintenance."
Similarly, Ghana Manganese Company, the sole producer, increased its attributable manganese output from 2.357 million tonnes in 2020 to 3.336 million tonnes in 2021.
The increase of 41.52 percent reflected a full year's worth of output.
A succession of government "stop and start" orders had a negative influence on the company's output the previous year.
Regarding the mining sector's domestic tax contributions, Mr Mortoti stated that the overall direct domestic fiscal contributions of the Chamber's producing member businesses climbed from GHC3.973 billion in 2020 to GHC 4.611 billion in 2021.
blogpay
