By Kizito CUDJOE
After gifting Tarkwa a state-of-the-art 8,000-seat stadium last year, Gold Fields Ghana Limited is now turning its attention to healthcare. Through its Gold Fields Foundation, the mining company is set to launch another major legacy project: a modern medical and clinical hub for the people of Tarkwa and its surrounding communities.
This new facility is expected to replace the aging Apinto Hospital, reportedly Ghana’s first government hospital.
“We want to give Tarkwa a hospital that matches the scale of its contribution to Ghana,” said Eliot Twum, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Gold Fields Ghana, speaking to B&FT on the sidelines of a recent mining conference in Accra.
He emphasised the long-term vision behind the project: “These are some of the things we are doing in our communities. The idea is to leave an enduring legacy. We don’t know when we will leave, but when we do we want to ensure our communities are better off than when we arrived”.
In 2024 alone, Gold Fields paid approximately US$266million to the state and committed US$621million in procurement from host communities.
Since its inception, the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation has invested over US$105 million in projects across sectors including education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, and enterprise development.
The stadium, which cost US$16.2million, has already become a local landmark. Now, with the promise of a new hospital, many residents see hope not just in infrastructure but in better care, quicker diagnoses and lives saved.
Mr. Twum also reaffirmed Gold Fields’ commitment to supporting Ghana’s positioning as a preferred destination for mining investment and as a hub for the sector in Africa. “Gold Fields is well-positioned to help drive this agenda because of everything we have done here since 1993,” he said.
On environmental responsibility, Mr. Twum said the company’s operations are governed by both Ghana’s mining environmental regulations and internal standards of environmental stewardship.
“We subscribe to international codes to ensure we don’t spill harmful chemicals, we maintain proper controls and emergency response protocols and we educate communities around our operations,” he explained.
He noted that Gold Fields was among the first subscribers to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GIST) and is redesigning all its tailings storage facilities (TSFs) to meet the highest safety benchmarks.
“We engage regularly with nearby communities to educate them about our operations and their roles in the event of an emergency,” he said.
Furthermore, he said the company has been undertaking land rehabilitation alongside active mining.
Before the rise in illegal mining that has polluted many water-bodies, he added, Gold Fields had already prioritised environmental responsibility – recycling up to 85 percent of the water used in its mining operations.
Providing an outlook for the mine’s future operations – particularly coming on the back of government’s decision not to extend the mining lease of Gold Fields’ Damang Mine – Mr. Twum maintained that: “We’ve been here since 1993, that is for 32 years, and we want to be here for a very long time.
“With a new government in place, and new mining policies being considered, our goal is to support government so that we can both derive value from our work here,” he added.
Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti considered a joint venture in Ghana to combine their Tarkwa and Iduapriem Gold mines. This venture aimed to create a significant gold mine in Africa; however, it has been suspended.
A statement announcing the decision’s suspension said: “The companies have decided to pause discussions around the joint venture, allowing them to focus on improving the current, standalone performance at their respective sites while also letting AngloGold Ashanti consolidate the improvements to its long-term mining plan, which currently shows the highest value of its options”.
Commenting on the development, Mr. Twum said the JV was expected to position Tarkwa and Iduapriem as the largest gold mining complex in Africa, with significant benefits not just for Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti but also for government and stakeholder communities.
In the absence of that, he said: “We are pursuing a suite of strategic imperatives to position Tarkwa on its own. We are working on various options to ensure Tarkwa becomes a multi-decade asset and we remain committed to that goal”.
