Gold Fields Ghana (GFG) received four awards, including two of the most important individual leadership recognitions, at the 6^th Ghana Mining and Industry Awards (GMIA) held in Accra.

GFG’s Damang mine picked up the awards for Corporate Social Investment (CSI) Project of the Year and Best Performer in Innovation for 2019.

The winning CSI project is the rehabilitated 33-km Tarkwa-Damang road, which Gold Fields funded at a cost of US$27.6m. The asphalt road, which was completed in 2019, was recognised for delivering positive socio-economic impact in host communities of the mine, by boosting economic activities, easing transportation and improving road safety.

The Damang mine’s drilling optimisation programme beat other contenders to win the Best Performer in Innovation award. The programme involves the deployment of high precision GPS drilling functionality on production drills, enabling precision navigation and accurate drilling.

“We are aggressively pursuing innovation and technology to improve safety, reduce cost and enhance efficiency. The high precision GPS drilling optimisation programme is one of several technologies that we have deployed at our mines to deliver these targets,” said Mr Alfred Baku, Executive Vice President and Head of Gold Fields West Africa

On the CSI project, he noted that: “Over the past 27 years, we have focused on mining responsibly as we create and share the value from our operations with our stakeholders, especially, members of our 19 host communities”.

One of the two most important individual awards went to the General Manager of GFG’s Tarkwa mine, Stephen Osei-Bempah, who was named the Mining Personality (President’s Award) of the Year.

Mr Osei-Bempah was honoured for promoting the mining industry in Ghana and exhibiting exemplary leadership and demonstrable high ethical standards, which have seen the Tarkwa mine maintain its position as the leader in responsible mining in Ghana.

He follows the footsteps of Mr Baku, who was named Mining Personality of the Year in 2019.

The Metallurgical Manager of the Damang mine, Catherine Kuupol Kuutor, was also named Female Mining Professional of the Year in recognition of her immense contribution to the productivity and business success of the mine in 2019.

The GMIA is organised by the Ghana Chamber of Mines and celebrates excellence and responsible mining in Ghana.