Unstable gold prices affecting mining sector – Chamber of Mines President

The Ghana Chamber of Mines has stated that current fluctuations in the prices of gold on the global market, make it difficult to put a definite price on the commodity.

The Chamber argues that the development also makes it challenging for mining companies and other industry players to make informed decisions using the price of gold.

Global developments have made it difficult for mining firms as returns have greatly been affected.

The election of US President Donald Trump, led to a significant rise in the price of gold signaling strong performance of the commodity.

But the subsequent drop in prices has reaffirmed the Chamber’s assertions of the unpredictable nature of the commodity’s prices.

In an interview with Citi Business News, the President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Kwame Addo-Kufuor described the difficulty in projection as cumbersome.

“It is very difficult to predict because the gold prices went up by 100 dollars after the election of US President Donald Trump. But later, the prices of the commodity dropped by the same margin,”

“The price of gold has also declined to below 1,200 dollars an ounce and the important thing is to continue to contain costs and optimize operations,” Mr. Addo-Kufuor added.

Meanwhile the Bank of Ghana has projected total revenue from the mining sector at 4.5billion dollars by the end of the year.

This comes on the back of the fact that the sector had exceeded the 3.3 billion dollars target for 2016, as at September.

By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana