GOLD SMALL SCALE

PRODUCTION AND MARKETING

In 1989 when the Government of Ghana regularised small-scale gold mining operations in the country, it was estimated that about 60,000 to 80,000 ounces of gold hitherto produced by Small Scale miners were smuggled out of the country annually.
An initiative was taken in April 1989 when PMMC was charged with the responsibility of promoting small scale gold mining in the country as well as purchasing all the gold produced. PMMC has since purchased about 600,000 ounces of gold worth US$200 mil lion under the small-scale mining sector.

The Company has licensed about 750 local Gold Buyers who operate in mining communities in the country to purchase gold. The buyers in turn sell the gold to the Company at its Head Office in Accra or its branch office in Tarkwa. PMMC has agencies in Kumasi, Bolgatanga and Wa, which serve as buying centres for those localities. PMMC has thus succeeded in sending the market to the doorstep of the producer to minimise smuggling.