Newmont going through the furnace

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA - Newmont, Ghana, a mining company, says it is awaiting approval from the Mining Regulatory Authorities to operate in two separate mining concessions it had secured at Akyem Abuakwa and Ahafo Ano South areas, since 2003 under 800 million dollar investment capitalization.

According to the company, it would start actual mining in 2007, as it was going through a meticulous standard assessment of its operations on multiple mining regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

It said the Akyem project would begin actual mining in 2007 and as at now, it has gone through the mobilization of equipment and had had two meetings with the people, as part of its community responsibility after feasibility studies and the approval of its Board of Directors. Ms Mawuena Dumor, Director of Communication, Newmont, interacting with the media ahead of the arrival of Mr Wayne Murdy, Chief Executive Officer of Newmont Mining Corporation in Ghana on Saturday from Denver, USA on a business tour of the company.

Ms Dumor said, as a responsible mining company, Newmont was committed to respecting the Universal Declaration of Human Right in its business operations that was why it was making every effort to run its business in a way that was consistent with and promote the principle of human rights.

She said in achieving that, it was adhering to the country's regime of respecting the environmental laws with the recognition that, it ought "to respect the fundamental human rights, which include social, economic and cultural rights."

Currently, the company is collecting baseline data to prepare a detail environmental report and a comprehensive livelihood study of the communities, which is being meticulously examined by the EPA. This will form the bases for designing a social action plan in collaboration with the communities within the Akyem project area. Ms Dumor said, "Newmont's future depended on its ability to develop, operate and close mines consistent with our commitment to sustainable development and adding value to the communities in which we operate. " Newmont operation will develop and use systems to identify and manage risks and provide accurate information to support effective decision making.

" Train our people and provide the resources to meet our social responsibility objectives and targets, adopt policies, standards and operating practices".

She said with those objectives, the company was striving to communicate its performance in an accurate, transparent and timely manner to the communities, where the mines would be located. She said the actual excavation in Akyem would begin sometime in 2006 with the first gold pour starting in 2007 and that of Ahafo Ano would begin in 2006.