Mining

Obuasi Municipality is synonymous with mining which has contributed greatly to its socio-economic development.  Mining and its related activities is the mainstay of the Municipal Economy. 

Mining operations started in the Municipality in the 1890s.  Gold has long been panned and mined by local gold seekers until the end of the 19th century when orderly commercial approach to gold mining gathered momentum in the country.  

Gold mining had over the years passed through a lot of stages with the advent of technology.  In the 1990s the then Ashanti Goldfields  Corporation (AGC)  had a worksforce of about 10,000 people but this reduced to about 6500 due to retrenchment and restructuring exercise which the Corporation went  through.  Indications are that more retrenchment of workers would follow in the coming years.

The company has provided the Municipality with a modern health facility and, educational facilities, others include a modern sports stadium (Ley Clay) and a football club (Ashgold Football Club) which participates in the Premier Football League in Ghana.  

Other sporting facilities provided by AngloGold Company are a first class Golf Park, tennis court, swimming pools, a hotel and 3 club houses with facilities for indoor games.  It also operates community based tourist center which organizes tours within the mine for the general public.

In 2004 AGA was created out of the merger between ex-Ashanti and ex-Anglo-gold of South Africa.  The company currently employs over 6000 Ghanaians and indirectly supports between 50,000 – 60,000 people within the Municipality and its environs.