Prestea Gold Mine

Prestea Gold Mine is an industrial gold mine in the Western Region of Ghana, in the Prestea/Huni Valley Municipal District, sitting adjacent to the town of Prestea. It lies roughly 15 km south of the Bogoso mine and about 40 km north of Tarkwa, in south-western Ghana. Mining at the deposit dates to the 1870s, and the site is listed among the Western Region's attractions on Ghanaian tourism portals.

The mine's scale is part of its interest. It produced approximately nine million ounces of gold before operations halted in 2002, and at one time it was the second biggest mine by production in Ghana. Both open-pit and underground workings were developed; the underground mine was reached through two surface shafts, the Central Shaft near Prestea town and another about 4 km south-west at Bondaye. Ore was trucked roughly 15 km to the Bogoso processing plant.

The site's recent history has been unsettled. The mine was placed under care and maintenance in 2002 and later restarted. In the second half of 2018, Prestea became an underground-focused operation and open-pit mining ceased. Ownership passed from Golden Star Resources, through its subsidiary Golden Star Bogoso Prestea, to Future Global Resources in October 2020.

In September 2024, Ghana's Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources terminated the Bogoso-Prestea mining leases, citing the operator's failure to invest and pay wages; a caretaker team was appointed while the ministry sought other investors. The company disputed the action, and a UK-Ghana bilateral investment treaty arbitration followed in 2025. Reporting at the time described the Central shaft as flooded and the processing plant in disrepair.

As of September 2025, Heath Goldfields Limited is the operator, with restoration under way, underground workings stabilised and community recruitment reported since January 2025. The company has described a phased ramp-up from October 2025.

This is a working industrial site, not a developed visitor attraction. No public tours, opening hours, fees, facilities or access arrangements are documented in the available sources, and the mine's ownership and operating status have changed repeatedly in recent years. Visitors should treat Prestea as a place to understand from a distance rather than a site to enter, and confirm any current access arrangements locally before travelling.