ABOUT 500 Ghanaian and expatriate workers of Goldfields Ghana’s Tarkwa and Damang mines, both in the Western Region, are to be laid off due to the plummeting gold prices on the world market.

The initiative is part of restructuring measures by the gold mining company to reduce cost of operations and restore profits as the price of gold continued to fall.

Alfred Baku, Senior Vice-President for the West Africa Region of the mining company, who disclosed this in an interview, also bemoaned the increased corporate tax from 25 to 35 per cent, adding that it would help if the mining companies got some tax relieves from the government.

“The cumulative effect of the recent changes in fiscal regime, it is out of place to introduce the Windfall Profit Tax”, he mentioned.

Mr. Baku was speaking to the press after he was introduced to the Omanhene of Wassa Fiase Traditional Area, Osagyefo Dr. Kwamena Enimil VI, as the new Senior Vice President for the West Africa Region of the company.

Mr. Baku, who is currently Vice President, Operations, for West Africa, is the first Ghanaian to be appointed to the position.

The West Africa Region is now the largest contributor to Gold Fields’ production and in line with the Group’s cash generation initiatives, Mr. Baku’s main challenge would be to ensure that the region improved its contribution accordingly.

The new Senior Vice-President of the Region is a seasoned Gold Fields employee with 19 years of mining experience with the Group, both in Ghana and Australia.

He first joined the Damang gold mine in 1997 as Production Engineer and became a member of Damang’s senior management team in 2002 and then the Strategic Mine Planner at the Group’s St Ives mine and Relieving Mine Manager at the Agnew mine in Australia in 2005.

Osagyefo Dr. Kwamina Enimil praised Mr. Baku for rising from the General Manager of Damang mine in 2010 and Vice President Operations in 2011 to his current position and asked for God’s guidance for Mr. Baku in all his endeavours.