Newmont Golden Ridge Limited (Newmont Akyem Mine) and its mine host communities have reviewed three agreements upon which social investments in the communities had been undertaken.

Newmont and its surrounding communities, in 2014, formed the Akyem Social Responsibility Forum (SRF) to regularly dialogue on how host communities can benefit from the presence of the mine and to enhance the impact of its resource allocation to the communities.

The forum, made up of representatives from all the communities, government agencies and Newmont, came up with three main agreements, known as the Forum Agreements.

The Employment Agreement spells out guidelines for employing locals within the mine’s host communities; the Foundation Agreement sets out the terms and conditions under which Newmont Ghana’s Akyem mine will fund the operations of Newmont Akyem Development Foundation (NAkDeF), while the Relationship Agreement details the understanding reached between the company and communities to advance sustainable and economic development of the communities.

A statement from Newmont said after 4 years of working with the agreement, Newmont Golden Ridge Limited (Newmont Akyem Mine) and its mine host communities recently reviewed the agreements to enhance the impact of its resource allocation to the communities.

It said the reviewed agreement, unlike the previous version, was in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which encourage prioritized allocations to Education, Agriculture, Health, Water Sanitation and Enterprise Development, among others.

The statement said the agreement is reviewed periodically by all relevant key stakeholders through an agreed review process.

At the agreement signing ceremony, Felix Apoh, the Akyem Mine’s Senior Manager for Sustainability & External Relations (S&ER), reiterated the need for the parties to continue the dialogue to ensure peaceful co-existence as stated in the agreement document.

He added that Newmont will continue to demonstrate its commitment to improving lives through sustainable and responsible mining.

The Social Responsibility Agreement serves as a tool to streamline resource allocation to local communities. For instance, through the employment agreement, the Akyem Mine is required to employ not less than 35 per cent of its total workforce from the local communities. Currently, 44 per cent of the mine’s total workforce is employed from the host communities.

The social responsibility provisions streamline the processes for transferring resources from the mine to local communities to ensure the creation of value and improve lives.