Margins and returns from mining are in decline and for that matter gold industry around the world are ?doubling their cost? per ounce, Nick Holland, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields has said.
Speaking at a forum on resource nationalisation on 7 November in Accra, he mentioned that, ?every one person? working in the mining industry ?supports nine? other people.
Resource nationalisation is explained as, countries? efforts to extract maximum value and developmental impact for their people from their finite natural resources.
Many livelihoods depend on mining but the slump in gold prices has triggered measures to minimize its impact on gold production.
The operating cash flows is not sufficient to cover the investments
An article on Graphiconline website on 6 November reported that AngloGold Ashanti is about to lay off 430 workers at its Obuasi mine.
It quoted Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, AngloGold Chief Executive Officer as saying that, though the group reported a swing back into profit in the third quarter, it had consulted with organized labor over the ?job cuts? in Ghana.
In August this year,?the Tarkwa Goldfields Manager of Mining, Stephen Osei Bempah announced that, their Heap Leach plant which produces 8.4million tonnes per annum is ?no longer viable? and would be shut down due to slump in gold prices.
Speaking to Spyghana.com at the resource nationalisation forum, Micheile VanDe Merwe, the General Manager of Goldfields maintains that, the company is ?planning to shut down? the Heap Leach operations by end of December.
?We are mining less because mining is going deeper, gold prices are going down and fuel cost is increasing. We are running Heap Leach at a loss.?
Holland however advised that, countries must both grow and develop. Growth or development is untenable.
Long term investment to establish market economy, strong institutions and transparent and stable fiscal regime, he believes is the way forward.
?A 1% increase in mining in just 12 countries creates about $8-9bn of value in a year.?
?Story by Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor
