Golden Star Resources Limited has been adjudged Mining Company of the Year at the 2017 edition of the Ghana Mining Industry Awards.

Golden Star beat competition from over 10 other mining companies to win the top award at the 4th Ghana Mining Industry Awards, organised by the Ghana Chamber of Mines.

The event was meant to recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements and excellence in the country’s mining industry.

In addition to Mining Company of the Year, Golden Star also picked up the first runner-up award for Best Performer in Occupational Health and Safety.

Additionally, the mining firm emerged Best Performer in Corporate Social Investment for investing in breast cancer awareness programmes.

The Ghana Chamber of Mines also recently commended Golden Star Resources Limited for operating 9.1 million man-hours without any ‘Lost Time Injury’ (LTI) at its Bogoso Mine.

The major milestone was achieved on Thursday, September 7, 2017 – which meant that in 818 days (more than 2 years) the mine had not recorded any injury serious enough to warrant an employee absenting himself/herself from work.

At the same awards, Ahmed-Salim Adam of Golden Star Bogoso/Prestea Ltd. won the ‘Best Graduate Research’ for the thesis he wrote during his Master’s programme at UMaT – and he went home with prize money of 3,000 cedis to support publication of his research work.

Also, an essay competition that was organised by the chamber among mining community schools was won by Miss Winnifred Korankye Amoah, who is a pupil of the Golden Star JHS. The award goes with a bursary of GH¢1,500.

Speaking to B&FT, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of Golden Star Resources Limited, Daniel Owiredu said: “We have worked hard to survive the headwinds that confronted the mining industry a few years ago. Over the period, we’ve had to take very difficult decisions and resort to innovation to keep our heads above water.

“We are excited that the dedication of our employees toward driving superior performance and advancing our purpose of creating value and improving lives through sustainable and responsible mining has given us such recognition,” he added.

Industry-leading performance

The five awards at the Ghana Mining Industry Awards cap a very good year of recognition for Golden Star Bogoso/Prestea Ltd. mines, as the company has swept most of the year’s major industry awards.

In October this year Golden Star Resources was awarded the 2017 Environmental and Social Responsibility Award by the Prospectors and Developments Association of Canada (PDAC).

Selected by PDAC’s Board of Directors, this award recognises an organisation that demonstrates outstanding initiative, leadership and accomplishment in establishing and maintaining good relations with local communities, and in protecting and preserving the natural environment during an exploration programme or operation of a mine.

Golden Star will be honored at an awards ceremony to be held during PDAC’s annual convention in Toronto on March 6, 2018.

Commenting on the award, President and Chief Executive Officer of Golden Star, Sam Coetzer, said the company was very proud to receive the PDAC 2018 Environmental and Social Responsibility Award.

“Responsible mining is at the heart of our company, and we are committed to working with the highest level of respect for the communities and environments in which we operate,” he said.

“Whenever I visit our operations, I am humbled by the passion and commitment shown by our team to working in a respectful way and ensuring that a positive and sustainable legacy remains beyond the lives of our operations.

“In addition to providing a safe workplace, we invest in infrastructure, medical programmes and facilities; employment and skills training; education and agricultural programmes. We are also committed to broadening gender diversity at all levels of our company, with women now strongly represented on our Board, in our management team, and in our operations teams,” he said.