Browsing by Author "Opare-Baidoo, Samuel"

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    The economics of small-scale mining of precious minerals in Ghana
    (1996) Opare-Baidoo, Samuel
    Since 1990, Small-Scale Mining (SSM) of gold and diamonds has made significant contribution to the economy of Ghana and has offered jobs to many unemployed people including 2500 retrenched workers from some of the old established large-scale mines. Improvements in Ghanaian SSM have been and will continue to be made for the following reasons: a considerable area of land for gold and diamond mining is available; favourable investment climate exists in Ghana; markets for the precious minerals are available; technical services are available from several established small-scale mining centres; and both skilled and unskilled labours are available. Unfortunately, despite these favourable conditions and contributions, several small-scale mines have folded up in recent years due to economic and organisation problems. The application of some basic economic principles will go a long way towards removing some of the pitfalls associated with SSM and make their operations more efficient from economic and technical points of view. In this thesis, the nature and economics of SSM in Ghana have been described. It has also analysed the economic problems of their operation. Subsequently, preferred strategies and guidelines to improve and sustain the gains of SSM of precious minerals in Ghana have been provided.
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    Strategic change and sustained performance - A case study of Anglogold Ashanti Obuasi mine
    (2008) Opare-Baidoo, Samuel
    The Obuasi Mine of AngloGold Ashanti has a highly prospective ore-body which can be mined profitably for several decades. Yet since the end of 1999, the performance of the mine has been declining year after year: gold production is declining; operating coat is soaring; staff turnover is high and there is uncertainty about the future of the mine. In order to produce dramatic improvements in the performance and sustain it in the long term, the company embarked on strategic change in the form of a merger 2004. Yet three years after the strategic change, no significant improvements have been observed in the performance. This study therefore investigated the factors that necessitated for the strategic change, the impact the change has so far made on the performance of the company and the chances of improvement in the next decade. The study found out that the short-term expectation of sustaining the performance of the mine to prevent further decline has not been met. Subsequently, the study has provided guidelines to make the strategic change achieve desired results