The largest mining event in the region, the 7th West & Central Africa (WaCA) Mining Summit & Expo returns to Accra, providing the industry with the timely platform to showcase resilience, strength and unity after a turbulent year especially pockmarked by Ebola, falling mineral prices and declining global demand.
Magenta Global will once again host this cornerstone industry event, supported by important industry stakeholders including the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Ghana and the Ghana Minerals Commission.
Taking place on the 20th & 21st of May 2015, the event is expected to draw a huge turnout. Key highlights include presentations from industry leaders such as Johan Ferreira, Head of Africa and Regional SVP for Newmont Mining Corporation, and Alfred Baku, Executive Vice President and Head of West Africa for Gold Fields.
Also known as WaCA Mining, the regional summit will feature industry stakeholders from over 30 countries, including Congo, Senegal, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia and Cameroon. High level government officials from Benin, Senegal, Congo and Mauritania will also take advantage of this event to showcase their countries’ mining potential though official high level presentations.
According to Magenta Global CEO, Maggie Tan, despite West and Central Africa boasting some of the world’s largest high-grade bauxite and iron-ore reserves, these are mostly untapped, owing to political risks, infrastructure deficiencies, inadequate transport networks and fiscal and regulatory bottlenecks. “These are some of the issues into which the Summit will delve,” she notes, adding that the Summit is a good platform to take the industry forward, as industry leaders, government officials and many other mining stakeholders will be in attendance.
Ms Tan adds: “The mining industry is facing one of the most challenging business environments with declining commodity prices, rising costs and increased complexity in mining operations. Achieving operational sustainable performance will be key to the continued survival of mining operations.”
Mr Alfred Baku of Gold Fields adds “Resilience is what every mining operation needs, especially considering the current operating environment. I look forward to sharing our resilient turnaround strategy that enabled us to turn our Damang Mine, which was at the brink of closure, to a profit making mining operation”.
