Newmont Mining Corporation

Newmont Ghana is putting on record the facts concerning a recent query that the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s (UNHRC) Special Procedures Division made regarding the Newmont Ghana Akyem project.

During late July, Newmont Ghana received a request from the Ghana Government for information related to the Akyem project. The information requested was related to a letter from the office of the UNHRC, which had been sent to Ghana’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. The letter contained questions which were based on allegations contained in a separate, stand-alone attachment. There was no indication as to where or from whom the allegations had come. Newmont provided a detailed response to the Ghana Government’s request on 13th August, 2009. It is important to note that prior to receipt of the UN letter, no person or organization had posed the allegations to Newmont directly. Later in August, a similar request came from UNHRC to Newmont Mining Corporation’s CEO, and the company responded directly to the UNHRC. Newmont Ghana’s response to the Government of Ghana is included here in full.

Newmont Ghana also made our response available to the Ghanaian Government, including the following:

• The Office of the President;
• Attorney-General’s office;
• Foreign Affairs Ministry
• Chief Director, Environment Minister;
• Chief Director, Lands & Natural Resources Minister;
• Executive Director, Ghana Environmental Protection Agency; and,
• CEO, Ghana Chamber of Mines.

Newmont Ghana elected to not make the responses public at the time of our submittal out of respect for the Government of Ghana and the UN process. Newmont Ghana is doing so now as the allegation has been made that a response was never provided.

In summary, the allegations cited in the letter to the Ghanaian government are false and distortions of actual facts. There is no indication that any Akyem area resident made the allegations or that they had any prior knowledge of the allegations and the efforts by unknown persons to subvert the project using the UN Human Rights mechanism. The majority of issues raised as allegations have previously been addressed in the publicly disclosed Environmental Impact Study (EIS), which was approved by the Government of Ghana in February 2009.

Finally, it is overwhelmingly clear that the Akyem area communities are supportive of the project and, weighing its potential pros and cons, have exercised their basic human right to determine their own socio-economic future. Please see this section for a link to the Akyem communities’ own response to this issue.