In a major step toward putting more mining power in Ghanaian hands, the government has chosen local firm Engineers & Planners Ltd to take over the Damang gold mine from South Africa’s Gold Fields
mines Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah announced on Tuesday that the Minerals Commission picked Engineers & Planners (E&P) as the winning bidder after a competitive process.
This decision marks a clear shift in how Ghana handles its mining sector. Last year, the government broke from its long tradition of automatically renewing leases and turned down Gold Fields’ request to extend its contract for the Damang mine.
Why Engineers & Planners WonAccording to the minister, E&P stood out because:
- It proved it has access to $505 million in financing (the government required at least $500 million).
- It scored highly on technical expertise, equipment, safety standards, and using local content and workers.
The company had earlier signaled it might sell the operation, saying the mine has a limited remaining life and not enough profitable reserves left Last month, Gold Fields said it is focused on making the handover as smooth as possible for the new operator.