Engineers and Planners Limited (E&P) Chief Executive Officer Ibrahim Mahama has pledged to reinvest all financial returns from the Damang Gold Mine directly into the mine’s host communities, setting an immediate development benchmark for the company as it takes operational control of one of Ghana’s most significant gold assets.
Speaking following the formal transition on Saturday, April 18, 2026, Mahama made the commitment in direct terms.
“Whatever money we make from here, we will reinvest it here,” he said.
Engineers and Planners won the Damang mining lease through a competitive tender process that saw the company score 93.15 percent in the Minerals Commission’s technical and commercial evaluation, outperforming three rivals. The firm secured US$505 million in financing, surpassing the government’s minimum capital threshold of US$500 million.
The pledge comes at a critical juncture for the mine. Damang is currently in a mature phase of its production cycle, having transitioned from active open-pit extraction to the processing of remaining stockpiles. Output fell to 135,000 ounces in 2024 from 153,000 ounces the previous year, and all-in sustaining costs climbed to US$2,002 per ounce, up from US$1,679 in 2023. Despite declining production, the asset generated US$138 million in adjusted free cash flow in 2024, a 235 percent increase, supported by elevated global gold prices.
Industry estimates suggest that revitalising Damang to its full production potential of up to 150,000 ounces annually will require between US$600 million and US$1 billion in capital investment.
The community reinvestment pledge goes beyond the standard obligations of royalties and employment typically associated with mining transitions. It signals an intent to position Damang not merely as a production asset but as an engine of local economic transformation in the Tarkwa-Damang belt.
E&P has been engaged in mining services at the Damang site since 2002, initially as a subcontractor before becoming a key operator from 2016, giving the company extensive knowledge of the mine’s geological conditions, workforce and operational systems.
The handover marks the first time a major large-scale gold mine in Ghana has moved to full indigenous operational control. The government has framed the transition as central to its broader policy of retaining more extractive wealth domestically, though the award has drawn political scrutiny given that Mahama is the younger brother of President John Dramani Mahama.
Mahama’s reinvestment commitment now places the company under public pressure to define how that pledge will be operationalised in a capital-intensive environment where managing costs, sustaining production and funding community development must all be balanced simultaneously.
