Ghana’s association with gold dates back to the nineteenth century, but today, the country remains gold focused and consistently ranks as Africa’s second largest producer. Gold represented the lion’s share of revenue from mining, accounting for $2.84 billion of a total $2.95 billion generated from mining in Ghana. In the premier league are Gold Fields with 30% of production, followed by AngloGold Ashanti with 19% and Newmont with 18%. Behind these sit Golden Star with 14% and Red Back Mining’s Chirano subsidiary at 6%. Ghana might host the region’s oldest mines, the largest proven reserves and the most developed service sector, but explorers and early stage miners are rushing to secure positions in fast emerging neighboring countries. This special report prepared for E&MJ by GBR profiles the mining environment in Ghana as well as four West African countries: Burkina Faso, Niger, Liberia and Guinea.