In a historic move, the first traceable, responsibly produced Ghanaian gold was presented to Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, King of the Ashanti Kingdom, at yesterday’s Mining In Motion Summit in Accra, Ghana.

L-R: Sammy Gyamfi, Ghana GoldBoard; Kwaku Afrifa Nsiah-Asare, Typhoon Greenfield Development Ltd; Max Afriyie-Barwuah, Development Gold International; Omar Liess, MKS PAMP; Oheneba Kwaku Duah, Son of the Asantehene; Lower L-R: John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor, former President of Ghana; Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, King of the Ashanti Kingdom

Ghana has a history of illegal mining that has led to ESG issues including deforestation, pollution, water contamination, habitat loss, safety risks and social instability. This pivotal achievement marks a new era in the formalisation of the small-scale mining sector in Ghana, and represents the culmination of years of collaborative efforts led by TDi and our CEO Assheton Stewart Carter, to position Ghana as a credible source of environmentally and responsibly produced gold from small-scale mining entrepreneurs.

The gold presented at yesterday’s conference was produced by Typhoon Greenfield Development Ltd at its Adomanu mine and exported for refining at the MKS PAMP GROUP facilities in Switzerland. This took place within the Development Gold International (DGI) initiative that enables small-scale mining operations to meet international standards, specifically the Development Gold Ghana Performance Standard.

Assheton co-founded DGI with the aim of developing an indigenous Ghana-appropriate, progressive good-practice framework to facilitate mine-site improvement at small-scale mines. TDi’s mining industry experts worked with DGI to develop the Performance Standard, which independently assesses and verifies the responsible practices of small-scale gold miners.

Speaking from the conference Assheton said: ‘TDi has a long history of developing responsible value chains for minerals and ASM gold in particular. We are unbelievably proud to have been involved in the development, launch and roll-out of this truly African initiative, which we believe has the potential to inspire other similar initiatives in Africa and elsewhere around the world.’

You can read the full press release on the Development Gold Ghana website here.

TDi takes on complex and tough challenges in some of the most difficult places to operate in the world. We draw on our creativity, expertise, and our partnerships with national governments, local operators and institutions to deliver responsible, assured, traceable, and economically successful enterprises and supply chains in precious, base and critical minerals. Get in touch to find out how TDi can help you or your industry find the solutions required to build responsible mineral value chains.