Alwyn Prestorius
Newmont Ghana generated $536 million of economic value distributed throughout the Ghanaian economy last year.
Out of the amount, $89.7 million was paid in employee wages and benefits, $62.3 million in taxes, $35.1 million in government royalties, and $4 million in voluntary community investments.
This was contained in the company’s 2017 Sustainability report christened Beyond the Mine.
According to Alwyn Pretorius, Regional Senior Vice President of Newmont Africa’s Operations, at the end of 2017, local community members represented 40.2 per cent and 46.4 per cent of the total workforce (inclusive of contractors) at Ahafo and Akyem, respectively, exceeding the company’s target of 35 per cent at both sites.
Additionally, he noted that the company “purchased $16.8 million in goods and services from local businesses and $325.2 million from other Ghanaian suppliers.”
Mr. Pretorius said mining to create social and economic benefits remains a top priority for the company.
According to him, “Over the years, we have strived, through our cherished values of Safety, Integrity, Sustainability, Inclusion and Responsibility to create long-term value and improve lives through sustainable and responsible mining.”
“As a business, we believe that operating responsibly throughout the mine lifecycle creates shared value for all stakeholders. Our Beyond the Mine sustainability report, published each year details the Newmont Africa region’s safety, economic, social and environmental performance. I am pleased once again to share with you the 2017 sustainability report for Newmont Africa.”
On the performance of the company in 2017, Mr. Pretorius said Newmont made significant strides in 2017 with industry leading performances in value creation and sustainability.
“However, we experienced a tragic construction accident in April 2018 at our Ahafo Mill Expansion project site. We cooperated fully with Ghana’s Minerals Commission on its investigation. The company is taking steps to address the report findings to prevent this from ever happening again.”
At Akyem, the company completed its reforestation program’s second phase, reclaiming a total of more than 300 degraded hectares in the Kweikaru Forest Reserve, and will initiate feasibility and implementation of the mine’s biodiversity offset programme later in the year.
The reforestation programme covers an area that is three times the size of the area impacted by the Akyem Mine.
The Akyem Mine, Newmont Golden Ridge Limited, was, for the second year running, ranked Ghana’s No.1 Company among the list of 100 most prestigious companies in Ghana.