The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources has urged mining businesses to build up regional capabilities throughout the mining industry value chain.
The Government views this as crucial, according to Hon. Samuel Abu Jinapor, who spoke at the 5th National Conference of the Ghana Chamber of Mines on Human Resource Management in the Mining Industry. The Minerals and Mining Act (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2020 (L.I. 2431) was enacted to, among other things, develop local capacities in the mining sector through education, skills transfer, and expertise development, transfer of technology, and development.
He, therefore, charged Mining companies to take the localisation programme very seriously and ensure strict compliance to ensure that we build adequate capacity across the value chain.
The theme for the 2-day conference was “Transforming people management for the sustainable mining industry in Ghana”. This the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, who is also a Member of Parliament for Damango, said is in sync with the Chamber’s mission statement, to use “resources and capabilities of its members to deliver services to government and community needs to enhance sustainable development.”
He again reminded that the mining industry is associated with many risks; hence motivation and fair treatment is key for the workforce, who he said constitute the backbone of the success of mining companies.
He added that for the workers to give out their best, it is important for Human Resource Departments to work closely with workers’ unions to build consensus and strive towards organisational objectives together.
Chamber of mines must play active role in the fight against illegal mining
Hon. Abu Jinapor seized the opportunity to admonish the Chamber of Mines to play a more active role in the fight against illegal mining. He further stated that Government is taking all the necessary measures to come to grips with the menace.
“Apart from its negative environmental impacts, illegal mining also affects your operations and your employees. The occasional clashes between illegal miners and your employees will be a thing of the past if we join hands together to deal with illegal mining and develop our mining communities”.
Chamber of mines takes steps to support human capital dev’t – Dr. Koney
The Chief Executive officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr. Suleiman Koney, on his part, revealed that the Chamber had taken steps to support the human capital development of the mining industry.
He said the Chamber has handed over 804,000 dollars research grant to 6 faculty members and five postgraduate students at the George Grant University of Mines and Technology at Tarkwa to conduct research into the mining industry.
He said this was the second tranche of support to the University with a total of 1.3 million Ghana cedis grants dedicated to research the mining industry.
Dr. Koney further emphasised that the mining industry can only be productive and sustainable with a conference of research as well as attraction, retention, and nurturing of talents with the right skills.
Radical rethink needed to attract, retain and nurture talents in the mining sector – Eric Asubonteng
The immediate past President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the current Managing Director of Anglogold Ashanti, Eric Asubonteng, has called for a radical rethink of the mining sector’s approach to attracting, retaining, and nurturing talents in the industry.
He said the effects of COVID-19 and the Russian- Ukraine war have impacted the mining sector’s supply chain; hence mining sector players need to be proactive in their strategies and strengthen the employee’s value chain proposition.
Citing the EY report on the top 10 risks in 2023 for the mining and metal industries, he said it was identified that the current talent shortage in the industry is the worst as skills and experienced ones retire and resign.
Replacing them, he added, requires a critical rethink on the attraction, retention, and nurturing of talents.