The governments of Ghana and India have partnered to establish a gold refinery in the natural resource-rich West African country. The aim of the refinery is to refine gold in the country and also to create jobs for the youth.
Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr George Mireku Duker, said these in an interview with 3FM’s Sunrise on Thursday hosted by Alfred Ocansey.
“We are engaging to find how the gold would be maintained here to create jobs for the youth”, he said.
He added “by the end of November, we may commission the gold refinery. We were to commission it by the middle of November but from what they are telling me, they are almost 95% done. There are few touches that they are doing and also depending on the president’s schedules, we are hoping to commission it by the end of November 2021.”
Mr. Duker further indicated that “the percentage of ownership has timelines. The Indian government built everything and we provided them with 20%. The 20% is our land but they built everything and that is our commitment”.
“The Indian government owns 80%. If we retain 20% of the refined gold…if the Bank of Ghana is buying the gold, it’s the cost of the refining of the gold that is what we will get 20%. It is the cost of the refining that we have 20% and not the entire gold”.
Cost of project
He said the project cost $25million which is being solely financed by the Indian government.
“The cost of putting it up is $25m and it meets international standards. It is located at the heart of Accra, adjacent to the PMC office”.
Mr Duker said “there is an arrangement for the project. In five years’ time, there is an arrangement for renegotiation to get to 50%-50%. We have space to renegotiate and in another 6-year, we will have the opportunity to renegotiate to buy the entire shares”.
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo|3news.com|Ghana
