TORONTO, March 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Golden Star
Resources Ltd. (NYSE American: GSS; TSX: GSC; GSE:
GSR) ("Golden Star" or the "Company") is pleased to
announce 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.
The Policy has been developed through engagement with employees
and the specialist human resources and community affairs teams. The
Policy has been ratified by the Golden Star Board of Directors and
endorsed by the Company's Management Team.
Andrew Wray, Chief Executive
Officer of Golden Star commented:
"The Policy on Inclusion and Diversity furthers our commitment
to live by our values: collaboration, caring, honesty, respect and
fairness. This framework will be applied across our operations in
Ghana and the Company's head
office in London. At the Wassa
mine, we recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with our
host communities, this process incorporated a commitment to enhance
the engagement of women and youth. For some time, the Company has
been focussed on creating employment opportunities for Ghanaian
nationals and more specifically the host communities from around
the mines. These initiatives have successfully resulted in a 98%
Ghanaian work force. We are now looking to extend these initiatives
to ensure our work force reflects the diversity of our host
communities. The insights shared by the diverse team that has
contributed to this policy will be fundamental to our success and
this process has established relationships that we hope to continue
to grow in the future."
New strategic endeavours to promote inclusion and diversity
include:
- A target to have 20% female representation across our business
by the end of 2025. This will be a significant step forward from
the current 4% female representation;
- A partnership with Women In Mining UK to provide summer
internships at Golden Star;
- The development of an Inclusion and Diversity plan that will
include targets to enhance involvement of women in work placements,
internships and graduate opportunities;
- Programs to gain recognition as an employer of choice;
- A partnership with Golden Star Oil Palm Plantation (GSOPP) and
Solidaridad West Africa to enhance opportunities for women and
youth involved in sustainable palm oil production; and
- A partnership with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ): Employment and Skills Development (E4D) in
Africa Program for empowerment of women and youth in Ghana through skills and enterprise
development.
In support of the Policy on Inclusion and Diversity Golden
Star will continue to:
- Support the Golden Star Ladies Club, established in 2010 to
support and empower members and to promote advocacy in our host
communities;
- Implement new methods of engagement to promote participation
and engagement by women and youth;
- Set targets and undertake specific programs to enhance
diversity and retain a diverse and skilled workforce for
achievement of our goals;
- Provide opportunities for members of the workforce to
participate in cross cultural awareness initiatives for enhanced
understanding and collaboration;
- Undertake data collection on diversity matters and increase
transparency through greater corporate reporting;
- Partner with other organisations, to deliver interventions with
the objective of enhancing opportunities for economic, social and
wellbeing security for women and youth;
- Conduct ongoing education with our teams on our values, to
ensure all personnel behave in a way that upholds our
standards;
- Promote the involvement of women and youth in the Golden Star
Oil Palm Plantation, to enhance the 30% female participation and
36% youth (18-35 years) participation; and
- Fund the Golden Star Development Foundation and GSOPP with
$2 per ounce of gold produced to
provide sustainable socioeconomic development opportunities for our
host communities.
For more information on Golden Star or its sustainability
efforts, see www.gsr.com and
www.goldenstarinthecommunity.blogspot.com
Company Profile:
Golden Star is an established gold mining company that owns and
operates the Wassa and Prestea underground mines in Ghana, West
Africa. Listed on the NYSE American, the Toronto Stock
Exchange and the Ghanaian Stock Exchange, Golden Star is focused on
delivering strong margins and free cash flow from its two
underground mines. Gold production guidance for 2020 is
195,000-210,000 ounces at a cash operating cost per
ounce1 of $790-$850. Since
winning the PDAC 2018 Environmental and Social Responsibility
Award, Golden Star has remained committed to leaving a positive and
sustainable legacy in its areas of operation.
Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Some statements contained in this news release are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward looking
information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws include
but are not limited to, statements and information regarding: gold
production of 195-210koz and a cash operating cost of $790-$850 per ounce
in 2020. Generally, forward-looking information and statements can
be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled",
"estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or
variations of such words and phrases (including negative or
grammatical variations) or statements that certain actions, events
or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken",
"occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof.
Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements and
information are inherently uncertain and involve risks, assumptions
and uncertainties that could cause actual facts to differ
materially. Such statements and information are based on numerous
assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and
the environment in which Golden Star will operate in the future,
including the price of gold, anticipated costs and ability to
achieve goals. Forward-looking information and statements are
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
important factors that may cause the actual results, performance or
achievements of Golden Star to be materially different from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking information and
statements, including but not limited to: risks related to
international operations, including economic and political
instability in foreign jurisdictions in which Golden Star operates;
risks related to current global financial conditions; risks related
to joint venture operations; actual results of current exploration
activities; environmental risks; future prices of gold; possible
variations in Mineral Reserves, grade or recovery rates; mine
development and operating risks; accidents, labor disputes and
other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining
governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of
development or construction activities and risks related to
indebtedness and the service of such indebtedness. Although
Golden Star has attempted to identify important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in
forward-looking information and statements, there may be other
factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or
intended. There can be no assurance that future developments
affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management.
Please refer to the discussion of these and other factors in
Management's Discussion and Analysis of financial conditions and
results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 and in our annual information
form for the year ended December 31,
2018 as filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forecasts
contained in this press release constitute management's current
estimates, as of the date of this press release, with respect to
the matters covered thereby. We expect that these estimates will
change as new information is received. While we may elect to update
these estimates at any time, we do not undertake any estimate at
any particular time or in response to any particular event.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In this news release, we use the terms "cash operating
cost", "cash operating cost per ounce".
"Cash operating cost" for a period is equal to "cost
of sales excluding depreciation and amortization" for the
period less royalties, the cash component of metals inventory net
realizable value adjustments, materials and supplies write-off and
severance charges and "cash operating cost per ounce" is
that amount divided by the number of ounces of gold sold (excluding
pre-commercial production ounces sold) during the period.
"Cost of sales excluding depreciation and amortization"
includes all mine-site operating costs, including the costs of
mining, ore processing, maintenance, work-in-process inventory
changes, mine-site overhead as well as production taxes, royalties,
severance charges and by-product credits, but excludes exploration
costs, property holding costs, corporate office general and
administrative expenses, foreign currency gains and losses, gains
and losses on asset sales, interest expense, gains and losses on
derivatives, gains and losses on investments and income tax
expense/benefit.
We use "cash operating cost per ounce" as a key operating
metric. We monitor this measure monthly, comparing each month's
values to prior periods' values to detect trends that may indicate
increases or decreases in operating efficiencies. We provide this
measure to investors to allow them to also monitor operational
efficiencies of the Company's mines. We calculate this measure for
both individual operating units and on a consolidated basis. Since
cash operating costs do not incorporate revenues, changes in
working capital or non-operating cash costs, they are not
necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flow from
operations as determined under IFRS. Changes in numerous factors
including, but not limited to, mining rates, milling rates, ore
grade, gold recovery, costs of labor, consumables and mine site
general and administrative activities can cause these measures to
increase or decrease. We believe that these measures are similar to
the measures of other gold mining companies but may not be
comparable to similarly titled measures in every instance.
For additional information regarding the Non-GAAP financial
measures used by the Company, please refer to the heading "Non-GAAP
Financial Measures" in the Company's Management Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for the
three months ended September 30,
2019, which are available at www.sedar.com
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SOURCE Golden Star Resources Ltd.