A mine worker walks inside the Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, Ahafo North Mine as commercial gold production begins, in Afrisipakrom community in the Ahafo Region, Ghana. October 29, 2025
Ghana has set a firm deadline for three of its biggest mining companies to relinquish direct control of operations, as the West African nation tightens its grip on the sector in a bid to keep more mineral wealth at home.
Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti and Chinese-owned Zijin have until December 2026 to transition their mining operations to local contractors or risk facing sanctions, according to five sources with direct knowledge of the matter and documents reviewed.
The ultimatum comes after Ghana’s Minerals Commission sent separate letters to the three companies in October and January, warning that failure to meet the deadline could result in penalties — including hefty fines and, ultimately, mine shutdowns. “If they still don’t comply, we have the right to shut down the mine,” a government official said.
The three firms remain the only major mining companies in Ghana still running operations with their own staff. Under revised local ownership rules that took effect in January 2025, surface mining must be undertaken exclusively by fully Ghanaian-owned firms, while underground operations must be carried out by companies with at least 50% Ghanaian ownership. Almost all other large miners in the country have already made the switch.
Newmont, which operates the Ahafo North and South gold mines, had lobbied for more time, asking to comply fully by 2027 and citing additional regulatory and governance requirements it must satisfy as a publicly listed company. That request was rejected. The issue was raised directly during meetings this month in Accra between Newmont’s global CEO, Natascha Viljoen, and the Minerals Commission. Regulators pointed out that other listed miners, including Gold Fields, had already complied. Newmont did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zijin’s Ghana unit said it has been engaging with the Minerals Commission since November 2025 on compliance measures, including preparing tenders and technical frameworks for the transition to contract mining, while also rolling out new technologies that require initial benchmarking before a full tender process can begin. AngloGold Ashanti, whose Iduapriem gold mine is among the operations affected, did not respond to a request for comment.
The push reflects a broader shift across the African continent, where governments are moving aggressively to extract greater revenue from their natural resources amid rising global commodity prices. Mali, for instance, ended a near two-year standoff with Barrick Mining in November over enforcement of its own new mining code.
Ghanaian authorities say the contract mining rules are specifically designed to build capacity among local mining service companies and retain more value within the country. Officials cited the emergence of homegrown firms such as Rocksure and Engineers & Planners as evidence that local companies are ready to take on expanded roles. “Local companies have the capacity to take on expanded contract mining roles and the commission will hold their hands to execute,” a government official said.
Not everyone is convinced the policy is the right approach, however. A source within the Ghana Chamber of Mines — which did not respond to a formal request for comment — acknowledged the logic but questioned whether the mandate should be commercially driven rather than regulatory. “It is a good option, but we think it should be commercially driven,” the source said. “If I can be more efficient, why shouldn’t I mine myself?”
For companies that miss the deadline, the consequences could be severe. “A huge fine for the first step,” one official warned, before adding that continued non-compliance could ultimately cost a company its operating licence entirely.
Ghana is Africa’s top gold producer, and the stakes of the standoff — for the government, for investors and for local communities dependent on the mines — are considerable.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah