Ghana Tops List of Gold Producers in Africa

Ghana topped the list of the main six African gold producing countries in 2018 with a total production value of 158 tons.

Thanks to the newly discovered gold mines in Wassa and Prestea, which boosted the production of the yellow metal by a 15.33 percent compared to 2017 estimates.

According to the French magazine, "Jeuneafrique" Sudan came in as second with a production value of 127 tons, while South Africa, which topped the production of African gold, came in third with a total value of 119 tons, a decline of 13.14 percent compared to the year 2017.

In addition, Mali ranked fourth with 49 tons, followed by Guinea with 47 tons. and Burkina Faso with 44 tons.

[caption id="attachment_52002" align="aligncenter" width="491"] A pot filled with gold next to a roadside in south-western Ghana[/caption]

As of 2014, no African country has been enlisted in the world's top five gold producers report due to the decline of production in the continent.

Since 2010, China has topped the list of gold producing countries worldwide. In 2016, the red dragon reached a record high with a production value of 453 tons, dropping 15 percent last year.

China stood ahead of Australia, which produced 312 tons last year. Russia comes in the third spot on the world's leading gold producing countries list with 311 tons. Moreover, the US comes fourth with 212 tons and Canada with 187 tons.

In the meantime, the six major African gold producers recorded a production value of 544 tonnes in 2018, accounting for approximately 16 percent of the world's stock.