The Ghana Chamber of Mines has opened nominations for its 9th Ghana Mining Industry Awards (GMIA).

The nominations will span from July 12, 2023, to August 11, 2023.

The annual ceremony is to recognize excellence and the contribution of mining companies and individuals to the country's development in 2022.

The CEO of the Chamber, Dr. Sulemanu Koney, speaking with the media after a stakeholder engagement said the Chamber desires to promote healthy competition in the spirit of productivity to ensure health and safety and innovation in the industry.

"The awards are to promote healthy competition among our members to showcase and reward excellence in the industry," he noted.

He added that the Chamber wants to showcase that "we want to be the real hub for mining in Africa, we want to be the productive industry that supports various stakeholders including government and investors. And this goes a long way to support the businesses and reputation of our industry," he stressed.

Responding to a question on how the Chamber intends to maintain the number one position as the gold producer in Africa, the CEO said "We need collaboration and partnerships to main Ghana's status as the number one gold producer. We want to be number one in various aspects of the business; innovation, CSI, etc," he emphasized.

He, therefore, acknowledged that to achieve all these, the government must play its part by ensuring a conducive environment for the industry to strive.

"But at the end of the day, you need that conducive environment to produce and perform to that high standard. This is where we need various stakeholders government particularly, host communities, and traditional authorities, all of us need to pull together to support the industry because we know our industry is number one, in fact in these difficult and trying times of our economy, it's our industry that is sustaining the country and we need all hands on deck to support our industry," Dr. Koney emphasized.

The awards held in December this year are in two main categories with about 20 sub-categories; the first is based on public nominations and the second is based on audit reports from regulatory bodies.

The categories include Best Mining Company of the Year, Mining Personality of the Year, Best Performance in Corporate Social Investment, Best Performance in Innovation, Best Performance in Environmental Management, Best Performance Occupational Health and Safety, and Best Performance in Contract Mining. The others are Best Financial Deal of the Year, Best Green Mine, and Best Performance in Local Content, among others.

The institution of the Mining Industry awards adds up to the Chamber's mining conference and exhibition, the Mining Summit which is held to forge partnerships with counterparts from other parts of the world.

It also helps to reposition Ghana as the gateway for mining investment and business opportunities in West Africa and to connect mining companies with investors, suppliers, and government officials to explore the vast mining and development opportunities.