A Chinese language mining firm has revealed that it misplaced 12kg (26lbs) of gold – value US$900,000 – in an armed theft in Ghana earlier this yr.
Shenzhen-listed gold mining agency Beijing Xiaocheng Expertise Inventory Co disclosed in its half-year monetary report launched on Wednesday that “5 to 6” suspects had been arrested and detained at a police station in Ghana.
Safety businesses within the West African nation have been “nonetheless trying to find the whereabouts of the gold”, in response to the corporate.
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Africa has been a serious funding vacation spot for Chinese language firms in search of minerals and sources abroad, however there are rising considerations over the safety dangers, and Beijing has vowed to ramp up safety for staff and belongings overseas.
Beijing Xiaocheng, which is engaged in gold mining, manufacturing, processing and gross sales, stated Ghanaian safety businesses had issued a bounty for the arrest of these liable for the theft on April 18.
Gold is Ghana’s high export – it earned the nation US$9.53 billion in 2022, in response to the Observatory of Financial Complexity. Picture: Shutterstock alt=Gold is Ghana’s high export – it earned the nation US$9.53 billion in 2022, in response to the Observatory of Financial Complexity. Picture: Shutterstock>
It stated 11 folks have been believed to be concerned within the armed assault on the Chinese language firm’s subsidiary, Akroma Gold Mining Co, in Esaase, within the Kwahu West municipality of Ghana’s japanese area.
The corporate stated Akroma bolstered safety measures on the gold mine after the assault.
Based on native media studies in April, closely armed assailants focused the corporate’s processing space, stealing gold and assaulting and injuring a number of staff, together with Chinese language expatriates.
Beijing Xiaocheng stated the attackers, who have been carrying masks, broke into the Akroma processing plant from an undeveloped space of the mine.
It stated staff on the mine, together with Chinese language residents, have been injured after safety personnel have been overpowered however there have been no fatalities.
The robbers fled with 12kg of gold that was to be exported that day, inflicting a direct financial lack of US$900,000, in response to the monetary report.
Beijing Xiaocheng, which owns three gold mines in Ghana, stated the Akroma mine had resumed regular enterprise actions after the assault.
The corporate additionally has solar energy technology initiatives together with a 20MW photovoltaic energy station in Ghana that has been working for over a decade.
Gold is Ghana’s high export, incomes the nation US$9.53 billion in 2022, in response to Observatory of Financial Complexity knowledge. Practically half of Ghana’s gold is exported to the United Arab Emirates, whereas Switzerland, India and Hong Kong are all main patrons.
China is a serious purchaser of Ghana’s petroleum, manganese ore and aluminium ore.
At a conclave of top officials in July, China’s ruling Communist Celebration stated it will proceed to press forward with abroad funding below the Belt and Road Initiative. It additionally pledged to strengthen threat management and safety for Chinese language operations abroad.
Demand for personal safety companies to offer safety for these operations has elevated lately.
This month, China warned citizens to not go to the gold-rich, japanese a part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the place Chinese language firms and staff have been focused in current assaults, kidnappings and killings by armed teams.
This text initially appeared within the South China Morning Post (SCMP), probably the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for greater than a century. For extra SCMP tales, please discover the SCMP app or go to the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Publish Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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