{"id":28995,"date":"2026-03-17T14:05:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&p=28995"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:05:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:05:24","slug":"ghana-weighs-local-bids-for-1-bln-revival-of-gold-fields-damang-mine","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/ghana-weighs-local-bids-for-1-bln-revival-of-gold-fields-damang-mine\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana weighs local bids for $1 bln revival of Gold Fields’ Damang mine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ghana is assessing three bids from local investors to take \u200cover Gold Fields\u2019 Damang gold mine, which requires up to $1 billion of investment to revive, the mining regulator told Reuters<\/em>, nearly a year after the government seized control of the asset.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ghana, which is seeking to boost local ownership in its mining sector, rejected Johannesburg-based Gold Fields\u2019 lease\u2011renewal bid and took control of Damang mine in \u2060April, breaking with years of automatic extensions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ghana is assessing three bids from local investors to take \u200cover Gold Fields\u2019 Damang gold mine, which requires up to $1 billion of investment to revive, the mining regulator told Reuters<\/em>, nearly a year after the government seized control of the asset.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ghana, which is seeking to boost local ownership in its mining sector, rejected Johannesburg-based Gold Fields\u2019 lease\u2011renewal bid and took control of Damang mine in \u2060April, breaking with years of automatic extensions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Authorities said the move followed the company\u2019s failure to declare verifiable reserves and formed part of a tougher push to ensure gold assets deliver greater value to Ghanaians.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The South African miner was issued a 12-month lease to resume open-pit mining and establish reserves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gold Fields, which continues to operate the nearby Tarkwa mine, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘UP TO $1 BILLION NEEDED TO REVIVE MINE’<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Isaac Tandoh, Acting Head of the Minerals Commission, Ghana’s mining regulator, told \u200cReuters<\/em> \u2060on Monday that Gold Fields’ Damang lease, which expires April 18, would not be renewed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mining contractors Engineers & Planners (E&P) and BCM International, and consortium Vortex Resources, have applied to own the mine, Tandoh said, and the regulator was assessing which bidder could meet its challenges.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

E&P, \u2060BCM and Vortex confirmed their bids but declined to comment further.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A source familiar with the bidding process said E&P, Damang’s current contractor, was a leading contender, having operated there for \u2060about 25 years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cA decision is expected as soon as possible,” Tandoh said, adding that reviving the mine would require “$600 million to $1 billion.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ghana, Africa’s top gold producer, is key \u2060to Gold Fields, with output from Tarkwa and Damang underpinning its strong 2025 earnings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ghana introduced a sliding\u2011scale royalty regime this month to capture more revenue from surging commodity prices.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

–Reuters–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":28996,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-28995","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Ghana is assessing three bids from local investors to take \u200cover Gold Fields\u2019 Damang gold mine","published_date":"2026-03-17 14:04:03","news_description":"Ghana is assessing three bids from local investors to take \u200cover Gold Fields\u2019 Damang gold mine","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28997,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28995\/revisions\/28997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=28995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}