Ghana Mineworkers Union has said it is compelled to set the record straight to correct “some factual misrepresentations put out by GoldFields Ghana in its quest to justify its unjustifiable business model of contract mining.”

A statement issued by the Union said, “Contrary to the claim by Gold Fields that its mining fleet is aging, it is important to note that 86% of its current fleet operates below the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Life of 60,000 hours and the remaining (14%) operate below the extended life of 72,000 hours.

“The average year-to-date availability of the current fleet stands at 87% compared to a plan of 85% and an average reliability of 34 hours.”

“From the foregoing, it is evident that the current fleet is fairly new and can run for the current 14-year life backed by a dedicated maintenance plan and a strategic fleet replacement schedule over the Life of Mine which indeed, has the potential to go beyond the current 14-year life,” the statement said.

The statement also said, “Arguably having failed on the technical imperatives, the Executive Vice President shifted the goal post by asserting on Joy news and Neat fm that the new reasons informing GFGL’s decision to go contractor mining is attributed to “unreasonable wage demands by the Union”. 

“He further stated that, for the past 4 years the Union cumulatively adjusted salaries more than 60%. It must be stated that at no stage in the process of the consultations did Gold Fields raise any issue on cost...”

“For the records, cumulative salary increase for the last four years is not close to 60% as thrown out in the public space by the Gold Fields EVP. On the contrary in the last four years, wages grew by 34%,” the statement said.

 Read the full statement here