Zijin Golden Ridge Limited (ZGRL), operator of the Akyem Gold Mine, has started training 31 young people from Birim North in welding and fabrication, paying each a GH¢1,000 monthly stipend.
The 25-day course is the first under the Zijin Akyem Rising Initiative (ZARI), run with the Akyem Vocational and Technical Institute (AVTI) in the Eastern Region.
All 31 trainees had already completed welding and fabrication courses at AVTI. The new programme is meant to bridge the gap between that training and the safety and operational standards of a working mine.
The company is clear about the limits. Completing the course does not guarantee a job with ZGRL or its contractors, it said, and any hiring will depend on operational needs and its usual recruitment process.
General Manager Agyemang Okyere said the aim was to “create opportunities that extend beyond direct employment”, giving young people skills they could use in careers or businesses of their own.
Trainees receive protective equipment, transport and lunch on each training day, as well as the stipend. The course follows National Vocational Training Institute Certificate I standards where they apply, and trainees are assessed on practical competence, safety awareness and workplace readiness.
ZGRL said the programme grew out of feedback from its annual Zijin Employment Clinic, which offers career guidance and job-readiness support to job seekers in host communities.
Electrical installation will form the second cohort. Plumbing, building construction and masonry are to follow as AVTI expands its capacity.
The programme adds to ZGRL’s existing schemes. Its apprenticeship programme trains young people in mechanical, electrical, and welding and fabrication work, partly with the University of Mines and Technology. A separate learnership programme places host-community youth in mine operations for workplace experience.
ZGRL says 597 of its 1,235 employees, about 48 per cent, come from host communities, above the 35 per cent target in its employment agreement with those communities. It says it has hired 222 people from the area since taking over the mine in 2025, against 120 hired by the previous operator in the two years before the handover.
China’s Zijin Mining Group bought Akyem from US miner Newmont for about US$1 billion, completing the deal in April 2025. Its gold arm aims to produce 8.5 tonnes at the mine in 2026, up from 5.1 tonnes last year.
