Ghana 'beats South Africa as top gold producer'

bbc

Ghana has leapfrogged over South Africa to become the continent's top gold producer, according to research by Bloomberg news agency.

South Africa has for decades been the continent's preeminent gold miner but high production costs and troubled labour relations have hobbled the industry there, Bloomberg says.

On the other hand, in addition to new investment, Ghana has lower costs.

Citing figures from the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Minerals Council of South Africa, Bloomberg says that Ghana produced 4.8 million ounces of gold in 2018 as opposed to South Africa's 4.2 million ounces.

The 2018 figure represents a 12% jump in gold production in Ghana as compared to the previous year.

“[Ghana is] an important part of our portfolio and, geologically we see really good potential to continue to expand,” Newmont Goldcorp Corp boss Gary Goldberg is quoted as saying.

“We’re very happy operating in Ghana.”