GHANA HISTORY, ECONOMY AND GOLD INVESTMENT

The first contact between natives and Europeans was with Portuguese navigators in the 15th century. In subsequent centuries, an extensive trade in gold and slaves was established with a number of European nations. In the late 19th century Britain established the Gold Coast colony. In 1957, under President Kwame Nkrumah, it became the first African country, south of the Sahara to achieve independence from colonial rule and was named Ghana. Following Nkrumah’s overthrow in 1966 there were successions of military and civilian governments. However, Ghana has been under a stable democratic dispensation since 1 992. The present government (the New Patriotic Party), headed by President John Agyekum Kufour was democratically elected in 2000.
The New Patriotic Party dominates the 230-member parliament. In 2004, President Kufour was re-elected for the second term. In a 2004 census, the population of Ghana was estimated at 21 million. There are a number of different ethnic groups in Ghana, speaking over 50 different languages and dialects.

THE ECONOMY

The economy is mixed; public sector and private enterprise. Agriculture is dominant; it provides 41% of GDP, and over 40% of exports, mainly cocoa products and timber and employs 60% of the labour force. Service industries contribute about 46% to the GDP and mining 5%. Minerals account for about 37% of total exports, of which gold is the most important accounting for over 90% of the total mineral exports. The other major minerals are; diamonds, bauxite and manganese. Recently, inflation dropped to below 13% per annum.
In 1983, following a long period of economic decline, Government initiated the Economic Recovery Programme. Policies introduced included price deregulation and flexible exchange rates, which were aimed at encouraging production, while in the public sector, efforts were made to upgrade management capacity and to privatize state-owned enterprises. Changes designed to encourage investment in key sectors, including mining, were made in the fiscal regime and laws
The mining industry, among others, experienced an explosive growth from the late 1980s; gold production increased from 287,124 oz in 1986 to 1.58 Moz in 1996. Gold production in 2005 was 2.14 Moz. The other key minerals achieved similar upturns in production. These increased outputs were achieved through policies under the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) initiated in 1984, under which the Minerals Commission was established to be as close as possible to a one-stop investment centre for the minerals and mining industry. This favorable investment climate coupled with Ghana’s fairly well known mineral endowment has attracted over 150 local and foreign companies into mineral exploration. This favorable investment climate coupled with Ghana’s fairly well known mineral endowment has attracted over 150 local and foreign companies into mineral exploration.
Currently, 13 large-scale companies are producing gold, diamond, bauxite and manganese, with over 300 registered small scale mining groups and 90 mine support service companies, while several other operators are engaged in producing building and industrial minerals.

History of Mining in Ghana

Ghana has a long history of mining, especially for gold. Gold from West Africa was traded to Europe at least as early as the tenth century. Most of this gold came by Sahara caravan, the original sources being the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. In the early colonial time, it is thought that annually more than a quarter of a million ounces of gold reached Europe from African sources. Based mainly on native workings, numerous gold deposits, both bedrock and placer, were rediscovered during the latter part of the nineteenth century throughout Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, and the other nations of the Gold Coast.

The Precambrian auriferous Tarkwa conglomerates of Ghana were developed in a modern way during the period 1876-1882 by Pierre Bonnat, the father of modern gold mining in the Gold Coast. In 1895, Ashanti Goldfields Corporation began work in the Obuasi district of Ghana, developing the Ashanti and other mines, which have produced the largest proportion of gold since 1900 in the countries of the Gold Coast. All of these deposits are of Precambrian age.

At the Obuasi mine, over the years, 25 million ounces of gold were mined.

At Bogoso, since mining operations commenced in 1873, more than nine million ounces of gold were produced, largely from extensive underground operations.

Minerals Commission of Ghana website, 12/18/2008

http://www.ghana-mining.org/ghweb/en/ma/mincom.html