2022 International Women in Resources Mentorship Programme

In 2020 Golden Star Resources (GSR), now a member of the Chifeng Gold Group announced its Policy on Inclusion and Diversity to mark International Women's Day and the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), considered the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women's rights. Golden Star has embarked on a journey to have twenty (20%) of employees as women by 2025. To achieve that, deliberate initiatives are in place to ensure female participation across all levels in the organization.  

One of the initiatives to develop female leadership, is the partnership GSR has established with International Women in Mining (IWIM), through their excellent International Women in Resources Mentorship Programme (IWRMP). The programme, is an annual cross-company initiative established to actively empower women in the mining sector by providing mentees with opportunities to accelerate their all-round professional growth. The six-month-long training offers tailored online programs and the opportunity to network with over seventy (70) mentors across the industry. The programme follows a structured outline to achieve clearly defined objectives. Participating companies include Rio Tinto, Newmont Corporation, New Gold, SRK Consulting and Centerra Gold. In addition, the plan is for participating mentees to share their knowledge and experience with other women in their organizations and elsewhere.

For the second year running Golden Star, is participating with three (3) mentees drawn from Corporate Affairs, Metallurgy and Corporate Responsibility.

What makes this year’s participation remarkable is the continued support of Chifeng Gold, the new owner of Golden Star

Abena Asante, Corporate Responsibility Officer

I am glad to have been selected by the Company to be part of the International Women in Resources Mentoring Programme (IWRMP) an initiative of the International Women in Mining. The IWRMP provides a high-quality framework, which facilitates the mentoring relationship and allows both mentee and mentor to benefit from the experience. At a time when I am taking a critical look at my career, this programme could not come at a better time for me.

I am looking forward to being empowered to progress in my career, overcome professional challenges and build confidence for achievement and industry leadership as it is the focus of the programme.

Looking forward to an exciting IWRMP journey! 

Boatemaa Hammond, Corporate Affairs Superintendent

The opportunity to interact, learn and exchange ideas through programmes such as this is invaluable. I am excited to meet my mentor and cohort members, and tap into their knowledge and experiences. I will bring these experiences to bear on my team to benefit from my participation in the programme. Very impressed that management has taken a critical look at the gender gap in our organization and has decided to do something about it.

Priscilla Amoako Quaicoe, Senior Supervisor Paste fill Plant

My participation in the program is a great opportunity for me to expand my network and gain more knowledge and experience.

I am looking forward to be encouraged and empowered in my personal and professional development, including increased job-related experience, building my self-esteem and confidence, and gaining more insight into how to balance work with life as a woman working in the mine. I believe this will encourage other women to aspire to work in the mining industry.

Barbara Dischinger, IWRMP Programme Director

What makes IWMRP unique is its combination of global reach and intersectionality, which enable mentees to benefit from contact with mentors and fellow mentees that they may not otherwise have been possible. The programme is designed to meet the needs of the highly globalised mining sector, now and into the future

Charles Xiaofeng Dong, Senior Manager Sustainability

Everywhere across the world, a diverse workforce is always an advantage. We understand the need to increase women participation in Golden Star as a lever to promote inclusion and equality in Chifeng Group. In addition, after careful consideration, the programmes content continues to be relevant to grow our female leaders. We know Boatemaa, Priscilla and Abena after this experience will support other initiatives to draw more women into mining and contribute more along our pursuit of excellence in all aspects of operation.  

Michael Ephraim, Senior Manager Corporate HR

Since launching Golden Star’s commitment to increase female representation of our workforce to 20% by 2025, we have adopted various approaches to achieve this ambitious target. The reviews by other mining companies and testimonials from our participation in the IWRMP last year makes us believe our approach is an effective way of developing our female team members to become role models to attract other women into mining. By providing females the opportunity to participate in mining, developing them into leadership roles, and providing the right female friendly environment, mining and for that matter Golden Star (a member of the Chifeng Group), will become attractive to women.