GOLD DORE - LEGAL AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPORTING GOLD FROM GHANA:

With the government reorganization of the gold mining, production, sales and exports in the Republic of Ghana, West Africa since early 2025, the following is important to make clear to all Buyers of the new terms and procedures set out by the Government of Ghana.

The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) is the sole authority with exclusive right to buy, sell, weigh, grade, assay, value and export gold and other precious minerals in Ghana. The Ghana Gold Board functions under the oversight and supervision of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Ghana.

The mission is to oversee, monitor, regulate and undertake the trading, assay, export, and other related activities in respect of gold and other precious minerals, while promoting value addition, combating gold smuggling and supporting small-scale miners and sustainability initiatives, with the ultimate goal of generating foreign exchange for Ghana and supporting gold reserve accumulation by the Bank of Ghana.

GoldBod operates through appointment of licensed gold exporters working under the regulatory jurisdictions of GoldBod.

LEGAL AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPORTING GOLD FROM GHANA:

In recent years there have been reports of huge losses sustained by some prospective buyers (largely foreigners) of precious minerals, notably Gold, from Ghana on account of the activities of fraudsters. A lot of these individuals have been cheated of their hard-earned resources by unscrupulous entities masquerading as licensed gold dealing companies in Ghana.

2.    Against this background, the Ministry wishes to highlight the procedures and legislative framework established for the sale and export of Gold from Ghana for the attention of prospective buyers of Gold.

3.    First of all, natural or juridical persons (companies) seeking to engage in Gold purchase and export from Ghana need to understand that this is a regulated industry. It is governed by laws with established institutions mandated to ensure compliance. These institutions include the Minerals Commission (MC) of Ghana and the Precious Mineral Marketing Company (PMMC), among others.

GUIDELINES FOR THE EXPORT OF GOLD IN GHANA

The Minerals Commission had issued a directive and or procedures to govern the export of Gold from Ghana. The following procedures shall govern the exportation of Gold by Licensed Gold Exporters (LGE) other than the holders of mining leases. These measures issued by the Minerals Commission shall be in force until substituted by other procedures that may subsequently be prescribed. These include the following:

(a).    A Licensed Gold Exporter (LGE) who intends to export Gold shall inform the Precious Minerals Marketing Company Limited (PMMC) in writing of its export plans at least two (2) working days before the planned weekly export;

(b.)    The LGE shall submit the Gold Ore to be assayed by PMMC at a designated assay center, together with all declaration documents, packing list, and invoice;

(c.)    The PMMC shall determine the content of the Gold Ore presented by the LGE using the appropriate assay method as agreed by the LGEs, Minerals Commission, and the PMMC;

(d.)    The PMMC shall prepare a report of analysis of the Gold Ore presented by the LGE and issue copies instantly to the Bank of Ghana (BOG), the Ghana Revenue Authority Custom Officer stationed at the assay center and the Minerals Commission;

(e.)    The PMMC shall invoice the LGE in respect of the assay at the agreed rate of 0.1% of the value of Gold assayed, and the LGE shall pay the same to PMMC. The payment of this fee is without prejudice to any fee that may be charged by the Minerals Commission;

(f.)    All Gold buying agents of the PMMC, before this publication, may continue to use their permits until the expiry of the present term of the license and same shall not be renewed by the PMMC upon expiry. All such Gold buying agents should immediately contact the Minerals Commission for further directions regarding the use of their permits. All persons who desire to obtain permits for buying Gold shall apply to the Minerals Commission;

(g.)    The GRA Customs official at the assay center shall inspect and supervise the sealing of the assayed Gold Ore with the Customs Division’s Seal and endorse the Customs Declaration Form. The sealing of the assayed Gold Ore by the Customs official shall be done in the presence of an authorized representative of the assay center, who shall also affix the seal of the PMMC Assay Center at the same time;

(h.)    The LGE shall complete the required documentation at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) before exporting the assayed Gold;

(i.)    Under no condition shall Gold Ore be exported by LGE without the seals of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Government designated laboratory, i.e. PMMC and accompanied with full documentation;

(j.)    All LGE shall submit monthly returns to the Minerals Commission in accordance with the terms and conditions of their license agreements.

Ghana imposes several regulatory and fiscal charges on gold exports to capture maximum value from its natural resources, with total fees generally amounting to 6% to 10% of the export value. 

Key charges include an ad valorem mineral royalty (up to 12% depending on global gold prices) and mandatory assay fees by the PMMC.

Breakdown of Gold Export Charges Mineral Royalties: A standard base royalty of 5% applies to the total revenue, though a sliding-scale royalty system ties rates to global gold prices.

Assay Fees: Charged by the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) for testing and analyzing the gold purity, usually around 0.1% of the assayed value.

Minerals Commission Fee: Regulatory and administrative charges typically represent about 0.2% of the gold's value.