Not only does Newmont have the largest gold reserve base in the industry, which is underpinned by world class ore bodies in top tier mining provinces and jurisdictions, the company from its Ahafo and Akyem mines, is also the largest gold mining conglomerate in Ghana, (that is if one doesn’t consider Gold Field’s interests in Asanko).
Since 2006 when the first gold was poured at Ahafo, followed by Akyem in 2010, and then starting underground mining at Subiku in 2018, Newmont has taken significant strides with an overall objective to creating value and improving lives through sustainable and responsible mining, by developing some very unique and sustainable instruments such as the Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation (NADeF), and Newmont Akyem Development Foundation (NAKDeF) for this purpose.
What’s even more, NADeF and NAKDeF are exclusively managed by the respective communities, and each receive one US dollar per every ounce of gold sold per quarter and an additional 1% of the annual net pre-tax profit from the respective mines. Through NADeF, Newmont is collaborating with the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in establishing the School of Mines and Built Environment, in Kenyasi. This school will further host two continent-wide research centres, the Africa Centre for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development with the Extractives (ACSSEDE) and the Africa Mining Hall of Fame (AMHOF).
A similar arrangement is underway for New Abriem, where NAKDeF has collaborated with GIZ to construct the Akyem Vocational Technical Institute.
Besides the jobs Newmont has created already, nonetheless, according to Newmont Corporation’s News Release in the Denver Business Wire, the recent approval for the Ahafo North Project has the propensity of creating approximately 1800 new jobs at the peak of construction which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023, and will also create more than 550 permanent roles once it is operational. Newmont President and CEO, Tom Palmer is quoted as saying, the Ahafo North Project will add more than 3 million ounces over an initial 13-year mine life.
Indeed, to continue listing the strides Newmont has made in improving the communities she operates in may sound like praise-singing, but the footprints are admittedly significant and abound for all to see. So, shouldn’t law and policy makers consider making some of the tenets of these success stories of Newmont a policy or law?
Think about it!
