Government to de-risk eight iron ore blocks for investors – GIISDEC

The government is moving to de-risk eight iron ore blocks lined up for exploration in a bid to attract private investment into Ghana’s nascent iron and steel industry, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC), William Okofo-Darteh, has announced.

Speaking at the Ghana Day event held as part of the China Mining Conference and Exhibition in Tianjin on Friday, Okofo-Darteh said the government was undertaking exploration along the iron ore corridor to open the area for development, so that investors would not have to bear the cost and risk of initial exploration .

“Actually, we have about eight blocks lined up for exploration, which currently government is determined to de-risk all those areas. So investors don’t need to do the exploration because the government is trying to do exploration along that corridor so that we open that area for iron ore development,” he said .

Major Deposit Identified

The GIISDEC CEO disclosed that the corporation had also worked on other high-grade deposits in the region, including a significant deposit currently held by the government.

“And I can talk of a deposit which has been there for some years now. Now government has that block. And then we are putting it up for investors to come and invest in it,” Okofo-Darteh said .

He described the deposit as the largest so far identified in the country.

“So we have a huge iron ore deposit of about 1.3 billion tons of iron ore deposit. So far that is the largest in the country and if we talk of the West African sub-region, I think we have the largest,” he stated .

The presentation attracted significant interest from Chinese investors and other participants at the conference, who expressed willingness to invest in Ghana’s iron ore sector .

Background: Ghana’s Iron and Steel Ambitions

The government’s push to develop an integrated iron and steel industry is anchored in the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation, established by an Act of Parliament (Act 988) in March 2019. The corporation was created to promote and develop the full iron and steel value chain, from exploration and mining through to processing and manufacturing .

Ghana holds an estimated 6.4 billion tonnes of iron ore reserves, with major deposits including the Sheini deposit in the Northern Region (1.3 billion tonnes at 33.8 percent iron content) and the Opon-Mansi deposit in the Western Region (147 million tonnes at 52.5 percent iron content) . Other iron ore occurrences have been identified in the Oti Region, including the Gyamurume deposit, where preliminary exploration data indicates iron oxide content of up to 82 percent, translating to approximately 57 percent iron .

Despite these reserves, Ghana currently imports approximately 800,000 tonnes of iron and steel annually at a cost of about US$900 million, according to GIISDEC estimates . The country’s steel industry has a surplus production capacity of 650,000 metric tonnes annually that could be leveraged to reduce import reliance .

Exploration Progress and Technical Partnerships

GIISDEC has been working to advance exploration activities across multiple deposits. In November 2025, the corporation signed a cooperation agreement with the Ghana Geological Survey Authority to deepen technical work on mineral exploration, covering geological mapping, geophysical surveys, sampling and laboratory analysis, drilling supervision, and data interpretation .

The partnership is intended to accelerate the transition from broad exploration into more detailed resource assessment. Preliminary findings from the Gyamurume Block in the Oti Region have indicated commercially viable deposits with competitive grades .

Exploration at the Shieni deposit has also been underway, with a US$600 million iron ore project positioned to commence. The project is expected to reduce Ghana’s reliance on imported steel products and establish the country as a producer of processed iron .

Value Addition and Industrialisation Agenda

The government’s iron ore strategy is part of a broader push for mineral value addition, aligning with President John Mahama’s policy direction that Ghana should no longer export raw materials without processing them domestically.

Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, who also addressed the Ghana Forum at the China Mining Conference, highlighted the challenges facing the mining sector, including gaps in geological information that affect resource identification and development. He cited regulatory reforms and the establishment of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) as part of efforts to strengthen the sector .

The development of Ghana’s iron and steel industry is expected to create employment, reduce the country’s import bill, and diversify the economy away from its traditional reliance on gold, cocoa, and oil exports. The government has indicated its intention to process iron ore locally for steel production by 2027 as part of a continent-wide push to add more value to natural resources at home .