The Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Martin Ayisi, says Ghana’s gold export jumped to a record high in the first half of 2024.

The total mineral exports for the first half of the year, he said, stood at $9.2 billion, with gold alone accounting for 54%, amounting to $5billion.

Mr Ayisi, in a statement, attributed the development to the surge in gold prices globally, especially in the second quarter of the year, coupled with an increase in local production for both small and large-scale operations.

The gold price averaged a record $2,338 an ounce in the second quarter, 18% higher year-on-year and 13% higher quarter-on-quarter, he stated.

“The average price of gold for July was $2,396 an ounce, noting that gold price inched higher at a new record of $2,482 an ounce on July 17, 2024,” the Minerals Commission boss stated.

Additionally, Mr Martin Ayisi predicted that if gold prices remained stable at the average price in the second quarter of the year, then the full-year outlook for gold could hit $10 billion.

He noted that the exports from small-scale mining for the first half of the year were about $1.7 billion, accounting for about 36% of the total gold export by mid-year.

On the back of the record prices of gold this year, he said, exports from small-scale mining could exceed $3billion dollars by the end of 2024.

He indicated that the real benefits of mining to the national economy lay in value addition, and cited instances where the government was championing value addition for lithium, bauxite and manganese as well as plans for local refineries of gold.

He was particularly happy about manganese and the strong policy of the government on value addition.

Mr Ayisi said the Ghana Manganese Company Limited was working tirelessly to construct a 450-million-dollar refinery to refine manganese ore locally.

The move, he said, would upgrade the manganese grade from 27 to 40 percent and create an additional 350 jobs.

The Minerals Commission boss also referred to new measures being put in place to improve local content and local participation to ensure that over US$ 2 billion spent by mining companies on local supplies and services were undertaken by Ghanaians.

He highlighted the efforts being made by the government to ensure mining companies were listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to raise capital for mining projects.

Mr Ayisi lauded the work of the Minerals Income Investment Fund to take equity stakes in mines to enhance State and local participation in the mining sector.

He called for better environmental management of small-scale mining operations, which is undertaken in 12 out of 16 regions.

The small-scale mining, Mr Ayisi said, supports about three million livelihoods and, thus, underscored the need for its sustainable operations.