Business News of Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Source: citibusinessnews.com
2018-09-18
It is not clear how much diamond reserves Ghana currently possesses
The volume of diamond produced in the country has reduced by 90 percent in the past decade.
Although very low, the production of diamond has been heavily affected by the ban on small-scale mining due to the fact that the sector is heavily dominated by small-scale miners.
With the ban, the mining of the precious mineral has dwindled.
A decade ago, the country was producing about 2million carates of the rich mineral annually, but that has been reduced to less than 200,000 carates.
The only but government-owned diamond mine, the Akwatia Diamond Company, had to be privatized after several years of making losses.
It is not clear how much diamond reserves Ghana currently possesses, but Chief Executive of the Minerals Commission who is also a former Managing Director of Akwatia Diamond, Kwaku Addai Antwi Boasiako says the mineral has not been explored.
“I am passionate about the diamond sector but I think the country has not paid much attention to the mineral. Akwatia alone has not even been explored fully not to talk of the other places we may have diamond, he noted.
Ghana is yet to feature in the global list of major diamond producers.
Mr. Kwaku Addai Antwi Boasiako says the minerals could have a significant impact on the country’s GDP.
Mr. Boasiako noted that “we have spoken to the major mine, to try and get some investors to boost the sector.”