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.
The report indicates that the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr Ken Ashigbey, says Ghana’s push to refine gold locally will come with additional costs for industry players, but the country must be prepared to absorb some of the financial burden to retain more value from its mineral resources.
It further notes that speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Wednesday, Dr Ashigbey stated local content and value-addition initiatives inevitably involve additional 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 this local content, it comes with some cost,” he said.
He, however, emphasised that the burden should not be left to mining companies alone, arguing that government and industry must work together to make local refining commercially sustainable.
“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,” he said.
Dr Ashigbey stated government should review taxes and levies that could increase the cost of refining, while private refinery operators must invest in technology to improve efficiency and reduce operating expenses.
“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 said.
He also urged private refinery owners to adopt technologies that would help bring down their production 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,” he added.
Energy costs, he said, remained another major consideration for the refining industry.
“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,” Dr Ashigbey said.
He suggested that government consider providing refineries with greater access to relatively cheaper hydroelectric power 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 asked.
He also pointed to planned large-scale solar investments under the government’s 24-hour economy initiative as a potential means of reducing energy costs.
