Heather Cameron
Heather Cameron, High Commissioner of Canada to Ghana, says Ghana’s mining sector remains a priority for Canada because it has potential for further growth.
Speaking at a day’s CSR forum recently in Accra organised by Golden Star Resources Limited, themed: “Promoting sustainable mining for sustainable development in Ghana,” Cameron said “with billions in investments in Ghana, Canadian mining companies are employing thousands of Ghanaians, and promoting high ethical standards in the industry.
“The companies are contributing to local value-chains and to community development.”
“It is worth noting that mining investment has always been an important part of our relationship. After all, Canada is the world leader for access to capital in the mining sector, 57 percent of the global mining financings were done on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the TSX Venture Exchanges (TSXV) in 2016. Almost 64 billion mining shares were traded on the TSX in 2016 with a total value of CND $189 billion.”
Philipa Varris, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Golden Star Resources, in a presentation, said in 2016, Golden Star Resources directly employed some 2,563 people.
“Our contractors employed a further 1,744 employees at our operations. Of our employees (permanent and contract) in Ghana, 51 percent are from local communities, 66 percent are from the Western Region, and 99 percent are Ghanaian, with $47 million in salaries paid in the year.
“We are also pleased to report that the proportion of women in our workforce increased from 10% in 2015 to 12% in 2016. Although a modest increase, this is important given that the mining industry is typically male dominated.”
Health
On this, she said Golden Star Ladies Clubs last year screened over 10,400 women for breast cancer in over 30 communities, potentially saving as many as 272 lives in the process.
“In 2016 alone, more than 90 participants were referred to specialists for further assessment.”
Water supply
“Since we began operations in Ghana in 1999, we have installed over 200 water supply systems for our local communities. The systems support over 20,000 households and an estimated 100,000 people. Census data from 2012 indicate that the proportion of households in our host region with access to pipe-borne water doubled to 30 percent in the period since 2000.”
By Samuel Boadi