Ghana orders mining firms to sell 20% of refined gold to c.bank

ACCRA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Ghana has ordered all large-scale mining companies to sell 20% of their entire stock of refined gold at their refineries to the Bank of Ghana from Jan. 1, 2023, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia said on Facebook on Friday.

The move is part of measures to operationalize a government plan to use gold to buy oil-products announced on Thursday by Bawumia. It is meant to tackle dwindling foreign currency reserves.

"The Bank of Ghana and the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) will coordinate with the large scale mining companies to ensure compliance with this directive," the vice-president's post on Facebook on Friday said.

All community mining schemes and licensed small-scale miners will also have to sell their gold to the government through PMMC from the same date onwards. This will be mandated by a clause in their licenses, he said.

"The gold to be purchased by the Bank of Ghana and the PMMC will be in cedis at spot price with no discounts," he added.

However, Bank of Ghana Communications Officer Sam Opoku told Reuters he could not confirm or deny whether Bawumia's order was being considered.

Gold miners Newmont Corp (NEM), Gold Fields Ltd , AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, Galiano Gold Inc (GAU) and Asante Gold Corp (ASGOF), all of which have gold mines in Ghana, did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. (Reporting by Cooper Inveen Additional reporting by Helen Reid in Johannesburg Writing by Sofia Christensen Editing by James Macharia Chege)