Alywn Pretorius (4th left), Regional Senior Vice President, Newmont Africa, receiving a plaque from Nii Osah Mills, Minister of lands & Natural Resources
Owing to its exceptional performance in categories such as Innovation, Local Content Support, Occupational Health and Safety, Newmont Ghana’s Ahafo Mine has been named the Mining Company of the Year 2015 by the Ghana Chamber of Mines.
The company beat 10 other mining companies to win the top award at the second Ghana Mining Industry Awards held in Accra recently.
Additionally, the Ahafo Mine emerged the best performer in Innovation and placed second in two other categories: Local Content and Environmental Management.
Ahafo recently celebrated 10 years of its first gold pour and production of its 5 millionth ounce of gold in October, this year.
The company was also ranked the Best Safe Mine for the year 2016 by the Inspectorate Division of the Ghana Chamber of Mines a few weeks ago.
At the same awards, the company’s Akyem Mine, Newmont Golden Ridge Ltd, won the best performer in the Environmental Management category and placed second in the best performer in Innovation category.
“We have worked hard to survive the headwinds that confronted the mining industry a few years ago. Over the period, we’ve had to take very difficult decisions, and resort to innovation to keep our heads above water. Although we are not out of the woods yet, we are excited that the dedication of our employees towards driving superior performance and advancing our purposes of creating value and improving lives through sustainable and responsible mining has given us such recognition,” said Alywn Pretorius, Regional Senior Vice President, Newmont Africa.
The six awards at the Ghana Mining Industry Awards cap a very good year of recognition for Newmont Ghana’s Ahafo and Akyem mines, as both companies have swept most of the major industry awards for the year.
In August, the Akyem Mine, Newmont Golden Ridge Ltd, was ranked first among the 100 most prestigious companies in Ghana, known as the Ghana Club 100 while Ahafo placed eighth.
The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) also recently honoured Newmont Ghana for its leadership role and commitment to local content development in the country while globally, Newmont Ghana’s mother company, Newmont Mining Corporation, was for the second year running, named the mining industry’s leader in sustainability by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI – World).