The government is seriously looking into the request by the Ghana Cham­ber of Mines (GCM) for the mineral explora­tion companies to be exempted from the payment of Valued Added Tax (VAT) on drilling and assaying, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor, has stated.

According to him, the issue of the scrapping of VAT on mineral exploration came up strongly during the meeting of the Economic Management Team last Tuesday.

Mr Jinapor gave the assurance in Accra last week during the breakfast meeting of the GCM.

The GCM has raised concerns on VAT imposed on mineral exploration, and said the practice is a threat to the country’s mining industry because it is thwarting efforts to attract mineral explora­tion investment into the country.

The Minister said by the end of the first quarter of this year, the issue of VAT on exploration would have been dealt with.

He said the objective of gov­ernment was to position Ghana as the hub of mining in Africa and to maintain the country’s position as the leading gold producer in Africa.

Mr Jinapor said last year Gha­na overtook South Africa as the leading producer of gold on the continent.

He said the country’s total gold output for 2023 was project­ed to exceed 4 million ounces and the production output would ex­ceed last year’s production figure.

He stressed the need for the GCM and the government to work together to address the chal­lenges facing the mining industry

and commended the members of the GCM for supporting the Gold for Oil Policy which had helped to stabilise the Cedi.

The President of GCM, Mr Joshua Mortoti, said that the total gold production attributable to the producing member companies of the Chamber at the end of the third quarter 2023 stood at 2.14 million ounces relative to 2.18 million ounces in the same period in 2022.

“The Chamber expects the full-year production of its mem­ber companies to approach 3.1 million ounces in 2023, which would not be significantly differ­ent from the output level of 3.07 million ounces recorded in 2022,” Mr Mortoti stated.

Mr Mortoti entreated gov­ernment to address the insecuri­ty at the various mining compa­nies in the country and address the delay in the approval of permits of mining exploration agreements.

The President of GCM, Dr Sulemanu Koney, said the programme was to create an avenue to interact with the Min­ister, adding that the programme would be organised annually to dialogue with the Minister.