Newmont Ghana has again restated its commitment to good-faith dialogue with community members regarding employment opportunities with the company and other issues of concern.

The company continues to dialogue with some community leaders and youth over their dissatisfaction with the finite number of jobs that the Akyem Mine requires to run its operation.

The management and community relations team of the Akyem Mine continue to hold community meetings with various community and youth groups, traditional authority, local government and the District Security Council (DISEC) to explain the Mine’s current employment needs, process and statistics and to explore opportunities on how to address their concerns.

“We are very much aware that we cannot employ everyone who wants a job, said Pascal Kanbonnabah, the company’s acting Regional Vice President, Human Resources. “We remain committed to skills development and empowerment for all our host communities. Although the Akyem Mine has already delivered broader community benefits such as infrastructure development in the area of health, water, sanitation, education to the local communities, we continue looking for ways to enhance the Mine’s ability to serve as a catalyst for additional economic and social development.”

The company has built a tarred diversion road, from the Mine entrance to Adausena, to move traffic away from its mining area. Newmont Ghana has also had ongoing discussions with the regional and local government on possible collaboration and opportunities to improve the road condition within the Akyem mine area.

As part of our commitment to providing employment opportunities to our host communities, over 43 percent of our workforce are from the host communities. This number excludes our contractor workforce which has about 49 percent local-local employees. We continue to explore feasible areas to increase the numbers with the limited job opportunities available.

Newmont Ghana continues to maximize opportunities for its community youth in job areas requiring semi and skilled job requirements. To provide local youth with specialized employable skills tailored to the Mine’s operational needs, Newmont Ghana has instituted a four-year Apprenticeship programme. Over 200 young men and women from our host communities have so benefitted from this programme. There are also policies and agreements which ensure that all our unskilled labour sourcing comes from the communities adjacent to the mine. The company also has facilitated the participation of the local youth in local capacity building initiatives.

The company is investigating the concerns raised about the impact of blasting on community buildings. We continue to comply with Ghanaian and international blasting standards within the approved mining area of the Akyem Mine. To date, the company’s blast monitoring and the mining practices have not shown any reason for the blasting to have affected any structure in the local communities.

However, the company continues to dialogue with local community leaders to resolve their complaints and says it welcomes the lead taken by some community leaders to contract an independent assessor to ascertain the reasons for the defects seen in building structures.

Newmont Ghana reiterates its commitment to acting in line with our social responsibility values and policies. We will continue with our social responsibility programmes aimed at creating shared value for our host communities and continue constructive and organised dialogue with all stakeholders on all issues of mutual concern.