Gold Refining

Murtaza Samiwala, Rosy Royal Minerals, and the Royal Ghana Gold Refinery

Ghana, one of the world's largest gold producers, had for centuries lacked its own refining capacity. As a result, impure gold doré had to be sent abroad for refining and conversion to 99.99% purity, the required international standard. This meant that local Ghanaian mines could only charge for impure gold, thereby losing out on the opportunity to capitalize on the global demand for pure gold.

Although there had been numerous plans in the past to establish a local refinery in Ghana, none came to fruition. These attempts ultimately failed due to various reasons, including lack of funding and regulatory hurdles. Consequently, Ghana's mines continued to underperform, and the Ghanaian economy, despite being home to one of the world's largest gold reserves, was unable to fully reap the rewards.

Enter Murtaza Samiwala, an entrepreneur from India. After studying the Ghanaian gold industry, he approached the Government of Ghana with a proposal to set up the country's first local gold refinery. Following a rigorous due diligence process, the Ghanaian government accepted his proposal, setting in motion a series of events that culminated in the inauguration of the refinery in August 2024.

This raises an important question: what made Murtaza Samiwala, an Indian businessman, the right person to spearhead a gold refinery in Ghana? The answer lies in his track record in the mining industry. Decades ago, Samiwala ventured into the business of mining marble, graphite, and sandstone from quarries in Gujarat, India. The challenges he faced at that time were strikingly similar to those present in Ghana today: regulatory difficulties, logistical hurdles, lack of modernization, and insufficient funding.

Where many businessmen might have accepted these obstacles as insurmountable, Murtaza Samiwala chose to challenge the status quo. He tackled one problem at a time. He engaged with government ministers and bureaucrats to ease restrictive regulations. He collaborated with officials to address logistical challenges, such as the lack of roads and unreliable electricity supply to the quarry. He also sought out investors to secure funding for his project.

His efforts bore fruit when his quarry became the largest of its kind in Gujarat, catapulting him into the ranks of India's top mining entrepreneurs. When he later approached the Government of Ghana, he recognized many of the same challenges that had once threatened to hold him back in India—outdated laws misaligned with national aspirations, restrictive regulations stifling industry, and a crumbling infrastructure.

However, he also sensed a strong desire for reform within the Ghanaian government. Encouraged by this, he decided to fund the project and lend his expertise for the benefit of Ghana. Once his proposal was accepted, Murtaza Samiwala worked closely with the Government of Ghana to turn the Royal Ghana Gold Refinery into a reality. Through his company, Rosy Royal Minerals, Murtaza Samiwala invested 80% in the refinery, while the Bank of Ghana, representing the Ghanaian government, contributed the remaining 20%.

The Government of Ghana identified a plot of land in Accra, the capital, as the site for the refinery. State-of-the-art gold refining equipment was imported, and local Ghanaians were trained in its operation. Finally, after a short delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Murtaza Samiwala's vision was realized with the inauguration of the Royal Ghana Gold Refinery in August 2024. And the rest, as they say, is history.