Engineers & Planners’ Damang Gold Mine has sold the entirety of its first gold output to the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), in the first visible implementation of Ghana’s strategy to channel domestically produced gold directly into central bank reserves.
The transaction was formalised on Thursday, April 30, 2026, when a delegation from Damang Gold Mine, led by Ibrahim Mahama, presented approximately 110 kilogrammes of gold to GoldBod officials at the Ghana Gold Board’s Assay Laboratory in Accra.
The gold will be assayed, valued, and purchased by GoldBod on behalf of the Bank of Ghana, refined, and added directly to the central bank’s gold holdings.
GoldBod Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi, who received the delegation, described the transaction as significant for Ghana’s reserve accumulation efforts. He said the decision by Engineers & Planners to sell 100 percent of its first output to GoldBod vindicates the company against critics who questioned its capacity and intentions following its successful bid for the Damang mine.
Gyamfi noted that while artisanal and small-scale miners continue to contribute an estimated 104 metric tonnes to Ghana’s gold supply, the output directed toward national reserves from large-scale mining companies remains comparatively low. He urged multinational and large-scale operators to emulate the Damang model, arguing that broader industry participation is essential to realising the objectives of the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Programme (GANRAP), which has been approved by Parliament.
Engineers & Planners, a wholly Ghanaian-owned firm led by Ibrahim Mahama, was awarded the Damang Mining Lease on April 7, 2026, following a four-company competitive tender in which it scored highest across technical expertise, methodology, and local content criteria. The award ended nearly three decades of operation under South Africa’s Gold Fields at the asset.
To back the bid financially, E&P secured a US$205 million syndicated loan arranged by Stanbic Bank Ghana and Standard Bank of South Africa, with Ecobank Ghana and Absa Bank Ghana as participating lenders, structured in two tranches directed at expanding operations at both Damang and the nearby Tarkwa mine.
The transaction has attracted attention partly because of Ibrahim Mahama’s family relationship with President John Dramani Mahama. The government has maintained that the tender process was conducted transparently.
GoldBod, established under legislation passed in 2025, is mandated to purchase and manage gold from licensed producers to support foreign exchange stability and strengthen national reserves. The Damang sale represents one of the institution’s most prominent transactions since it began operations.
Gyamfi said the transaction is expected to boost Ghana’s gold reserves while setting a precedent for increased collaboration between the private sector and state institutions in managing the country’s mineral wealth.
