Story audio is generated using AI
Gold Fields has moved to soothe investors’ nerves after reports surfaced that the Ghanaian government might hand control of its Tarkwa mine over to local companies next year.The episode points to a tense landscape for South African miners operating in Ghana, the continent’s biggest gold producer, as it embarks on a broader policy shift to tighten state control of its natural resources.Bloomberg reported on Friday that Ghana was considering handing control of the Tarkwa mine to local companies when the operation’s leases expire in April.The West African country has already moved to increase state revenue from the mining sector by raising royalties on gold from 5% to up to 12%.Tarkwa is Gold Fields’ last remaining asset in the country and something of a crown jewel in its portfolio, accounting for a fifth of annual production.Gold Fields’ other Ghanaian asset, Damang, was already handed over to the country’s government in April after its leases expired.The mining giant went into damage control mode on Monday, telling shareholders in a response to the circulating media reports that it “remains committed to both the Tarkwa mine and its continued operation in Ghana.“Given the company’s experience of delivering safe and responsible mining operations, employment creation and partnerships in Ghana ... Gold Fields believes it is well positioned ... to continue operating and growing the Tarkwa mine beyond the current life of mine,” it said.All of this is subject to the asset’s five mining leases being renewed come April.In November 2025 the group submitted an early application for their renewal and has since held several engagements with the state about the terms of these renewals.“The outcome, timing and terms of the lease renewals remain the subject of these ongoing engagements with the government of Ghana,” it said.But an agreement is far from guaranteed. In Gold Fields’ latest annual results, the group warned that if Tarkwa’s leases are only renewed on less favourable terms, the operations costs could increase materially through higher taxes and a loss of concessions.In particular, a range of state-provided concessions and “key stabilising provisions” for taxes and royalties at Tarkwa are set to expire in April 2027, and it is no longer clear if these agreements will be extended.The group warned in its report that it would be required to cease mining operations at Tarkwa unless its mining leases were renewed by April.The tension reflects a multi-year effort by Ghana to clamp down on its gold sector. In recent years the country has proposed big amendments to its Minerals and Mining Act, a set of laws governing the mining sector, including reducing mining lease terms and abolishing development agreements such as the one given to Tarkwa.The government has also introduced big shifts aimed at combating illegal mining, partly by laying out a clearer path for small-scale miners to obtain licences to operate by partly tightening restrictions on the informal sector.In May 2025, it established the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), which is now the only legal seller and exporter of gold produced by the informal sector in Ghana in a bid to cut down on illicit trade.The company warned in its latest annual results that “resource nationalism is rising, affecting tax rules and ownership rights in certain territories”.This “will most likely take precedence over optimised supply chains in a geopolitically volatile world”, it said.Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Ghana’s government faces its own domestic pressures to act against South African firms amid xenophobic protests in the country, which have prompted more than 2,700 Ghanaians and other Africans to return home.Business Day
