Gold traceability system in offing by 2026 to tackle illegal mining

In a major policy shift aimed at reforming Ghana’s small-scale mining industry, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (Goldbod), Sammy Gyamfi, has announced that a national gold traceability system will be fully operational by 2026.

The move, he said, is designed to clamp down on illegal gold trading and formalize the largely informal artisanal mining sector that has operated without accountability for decades.

Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosiisen programme, Gyamfi underscored the historic absence of a traceability mechanism in Ghana’s gold mining sector, dating as far back as the colonial era.

Despite Ghana’s status as one of Africa’s leading gold producers, tracking the source and flow of gold — especially in the small-scale sector — has remained a persistent challenge.

“We started mining gold during the colonial period and yet, even in 2025, there’s no national system that can tell us which mine a particular gold consignment is coming from or allow us to track our gold through the supply chain,” he said.

According to Gyamfi, large-scale mining companies have some level of traceability due to corporate compliance and international standards.

However, the small-scale and artisanal mining sector — which contributes significantly to Ghana’s gold output — remains mostly unregulated and prone to smuggling, tax evasion, and environmental degradation.

The current government, under President John Dramani Mahama, has prioritized reform of the mining sector through the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board, an institution created by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to serve as the regulatory backbone of the small-scale gold trade.

Sammy Gyamfi explained that one of the Goldbod’s early interventions was to nullify all previously issued licenses and launch a digitized licensing regime.

“We introduced a new online system for license applications to eliminate human interference and corruption. The entire process — from application to payment and tracking — is digital, with the exception of the physical license collection,” he noted.

So far, the Goldbod has approved and issued hundreds of licenses across different categories:

Aggregator license: 1

Self-financing aggregator licenses: 4

Tier 2 (sub-aggregators): 263 approved, 192 issued

Tier 1 buyers: 348 approved, 123 issued

In total, 615 licenses have been approved, with 319 already printed and distributed.

Looking ahead, Sammy Gyamfi stressed that the traceability system is not an overnight fix but a medium-term reform requiring infrastructure, technology procurement, and industry-wide onboarding.

He pointed out that the legal framework only came into effect on April 2, 2025, giving the Gold Board a relatively short period to lay the groundwork.

“It’s unrealistic to expect a fully functional traceability framework just three or four months after the law was passed. We’re taking a deliberate and systematic approach, and by 2026, Ghana will have a world-class gold traceability system in place,” he assured.

Once implemented, the system will allow for the identification of the source of every gold bar or consignment intended for export. Gold that cannot be traced to a legal source may be rejected for international trade or subject to punitive measures.

The system is expected to position Ghanaian gold to meet the stringent standards of global markets such as the London Bullion Market (LBM).

“If the gold is traceable, Ghana can command the LBM refinery price. But untraceable gold poses a serious dilemma — one that we must address decisively,” Sammy Gyamfi stated.

He appealed to the public, miners, and industry stakeholders to support the reforms, stressing that the long-term benefits will include enhanced state revenue, environmental protection, and improved investor confidence in Ghana’s mining sector.

The traceability system is expected to be a game changer in Ghana’s fight against illegal mining and gold smuggling — problems that have plagued the country’s mining sector for years and eroded both fiscal revenue and environmental sustainability.