The Underground Mining Alliance (UMA) has employed more than 320 direct workers from its 10 primary host communities at Newmont’s Ahafo South Mine. This figure represents 52 percent of the company's total workforce, establishing a significant benchmark for local employment within Ghana's mining sector.
This achievement addresses a long-standing issue in developing economies where mineral wealth often coexists with limited technical employment opportunities for local populations. UMA’s model prioritises local labour across all operational tiers, moving beyond traditional corporate social responsibility initiatives. The company focuses on continuous skill development and strategic technical partnerships to integrate host community members into specialised roles.
This development aligns with a broader global movement towards stricter local content implementation in natural resource management. Data from the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) indicates that over 80 percent of mineral-rich developing nations now have explicit local employment mandates. While national localisation targets often exceed 90 percent for overall staff, host-community representation in specialised underground technical roles has historically remained below 30 percent globally.
Bertha Yeboah, Human Resource Supervisor of UMA-Subika, stated, “Our company recognises that responsible mining is not only about the extraction of gold, but also about creating lasting benefits in the communities where we operate.” She added that UMA is committed to hiring locally, building skills, and supporting long-term careers. The company maintains a recruitment policy that gives strict preference to skilled and unskilled applicants from host communities, directly contributing to local economic resilience.
UMA’s approach provides clear advancement pathways into specialised engineering and leadership roles, rather than limiting local recruitment to unskilled labour. Since 2018, in partnership with Newmont, UMA has delivered specialised underground operational training to local trainers under the 3LP initiative. A landmark technical partnership with OEM giant Sandvik, initiated in 2024, has trained eight mechanical technicians in its inaugural cohort and continues to absorb eight local and national technicians annually through a competitive selection pipeline.
Industry experts view this model as crucial for long-term operational viability. Dr. Isabelle Laurent, Senior Natural Resources Governance Fellow at the Global Extractive Policy Institute, Geneva, noted that successful integration of host-community technicians into complex technical pipelines de-risks assets, reduces operational friction, and drives down ESG-related downtime. Kwame Mutambara, Extractive Sector Lead at the African Development Policy Center, Nairobi, highlighted that building local technical capacity, such as specialised underground equipment operators and mechanics, is the foundational layer of true resource sovereignty in West Africa.
Kofi Mensah Addo, Senior Mining Analyst and Industrial Consultant, Accra, emphasised that UMA is demonstrating that compliance extends beyond regulatory minimums. It involves creating high-value technical pipelines that transform host community youth into world-class mining professionals. This integration of host-community labour into underground mining operations provides a concrete framework for advancing several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), including Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Quality Education and Skills (SDG 4), Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9), and Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10).
Ing Peter Osei Mensah, UMA-Subika’s Underground Mine Manager, stated, “Our purpose is to create enduring value and certainty for our people, clients, investors, and the communities in which we operate.” This purpose is guided by five core principles: No shortcuts, Never wasteful, Walk in their shoes, Smarter Together, and Enable tomorrow. As global resource extraction faces increased scrutiny regarding local value retention, UMA’s model at Ahafo South offers a clear operational template. It shows that sustainable mining is achieved not just by extracted yield, but by the technical capabilities left behind in the hands of host community workers.