Anglogold Ashanti Allocates U.S.$6Million for Local Purchases

By Kingsley Asare

AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Gold Mine in Tarkwa has allocated $6million annually for the purchase of local products by the company in its catchment area.

The Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem gold mine, Jasper Musadaidzwa, who disclosed this in an interview with the Ghanaian Times after the Ghana Industry Mining Awards in Accra, said the move was to build and develop the local economy in which the company operated.

He said the annual allocation of the $6 million for the purchase of local materials was to improve the lives of the residents in the AngloGold operating areas.

This year's Ghana Mining Industry Awards, the fourth in the series and marks the 90th anniversary celebration of the Ghana Chamber of Mines was on the theme, 'Responsible and sustainable mining: Partner for national development.'

AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Gold Mine picked two awards, namely the Second Best in Corporate Social Investment and the Female Miner of the Year, which went to Juliana Osei-Tutu Boakye, a staff of the company.

Mr Musadaidzwa said his outfit sourced most of its foodstuffs for the company's canteen from local people, stressing that "AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Gold Mine intends to increase its budget on local spending of $6million annually in the years ahead".

"We are a people focus company and once you are people centered company businesses will come to you and all your other metrics will prove positive," he said.

He said the company projects to produce 270,000 ounces of gold this year, from the 255,000 it is producing this year.

"In the past two to three years, we have increased our gold production by 25 per cent from 210-220,000 ounces per year and have achieved our target of producing a quarter of a million ounces of gold per year," the Managing Director said.

He said currently, the company was operating three pits in the Iduapriem Mine.

Mr Musadaidzwa said though the mining fiscal regime was stable and allow for long term planning, the high cost of fuel and erratic power supply was a major challenge to the company, indicating that the cost of fuel in Ghana was 25 per cent more than the company's operating countries like Tanzania and Guinea and South Africa.

On the award, the Managing Director said he was excited about the award given to the company.

He said the company which was people centered invested huge amount on education, healthcare and water in the company's catchment areas.

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