Thirty students from the Chirano Gold Mine’s catchment communities in the Western Region have received scholarships to further their education at the tertiary level.

The beneficiaries are pursuing programmes in the area of Science, Technology, Mathematics (STEM) and Innovation, and others,

With the company’s vision of using capacity building to change lives for the better, the awards aim to support, encourage and promote learning and higher education.

Vice President and General Manager of Chirano Gold Mines Limited, Terrence Watungwa said this is yet another great milestone in our quest to provide support for the improvement of education in our catchment communities, through the provision of infrastructure, teacher incentives and valuable interventions such as scholarships.

"Chirano Gold Mine Limited recognizes education as an essential element in community advancement. With the company's vision of using capacity building to change lives for the better. The awards are, therefore, to support, encourage and promote learning and higher education".

The Scholarships
It is a full scholarship which covers all school fees and academic payments, accommodation and monthly stipend for the entire duration of the beneficiary’s tertiary education.

The scholarships are being awarded under two programs: the General Manager’s Scholarship and the Chirano Sefwiman Foundation Scholarship.

The General Manager's Scholarship, which is fully funded by the mining firm, was awarded to six high performing students while the Chirano Sefwiman Foundation scholarship went to 24 students.

The GM’s Scholarship Program is fully funded by the Mine to support students from the Senior High School Level who might not be able to progress to the higher level because of the lack of financial resources.  Six high performing students were selected for this scholarship.

The Chirano Sefwiman Foundation Scholarship, inaugurated last year with an initial investment of $2 million to spearhead development in our catchment area, is supporting 24 students. It is the first of many development programs to come from the Foundation.

This year, a total of 120,000 cedis will be spent on both scholarships. This amount will grow significantly, as new beneficiaries are brought on board on an annual basis for the foreseeable future.

All the applicants are from, and have attended basic school in one of our catchment communities. They are recent Senior High School graduates who excelled at the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

They have gone through a rigorous process to determine the financial status of their guardians and none of them is a dependent of an employee of Chirano Gold Mines.

“I am very confident that through our rigorous selection process, the best candidates to make the needed positive impact on their communities in the near future are being awarded these scholarships”.

A third year medical student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Miss Lily Nkansah Bosompem, on behalf of the awardees, lauded the company and the Paramount Chiefs of Anwhiaso, Chirano and Wiawso traditional areas for the establishment of the Chirano Sefwiman Foundation scholarship.

She, on behalf of her colleagues, promised to study hard and to give back to society after school and appealed to other corporate institutions in the area to emulate the company to ensure the area’s accelerated development.

Western North Regional Director of Education, Mr Stephen Kwaku Owusu, expressed gratitude to the company for their immense contribution to the development of education in the area.

He is positive that if this continues, the region would produce more doctors, engineers, and scientists in the years to come.

“Study hard and lead exemplary lives for others to follow and please come back and help develop the Region after your course of study.”

The Mine is in a very good position to continue funding the General Manager’s scholarship program and lend support to the Chirano Sefwiman Foundation following our strong growth forecast.

The Mine Life
The exploration program at Chirano continued to yield excellent results and added to the operation’s mineral reserve estimates, helping extend mine life by three years to 2025.

This essentially means it has found enough proven gold reserves to continue this operation for the next four years, with opportunities for further mine life extensions.

Continued exploration success is positive for both the Mine and the communities because it will be able to continue the strong role as an Outstanding Corporate Citizen in the local communities and Ghana.

Over the last year, Chirano has supported our communities with various Corporate Responsibility projects and programs. We commissioned an ultra-modern one-storey Science Laboratory for Queens Girls’ Senior High School. Twenty-four youth have also been trained in Truck driving to make them marketable to potential employees, with plans to provide further training.

Other Supports
Chirano has provided over 450,000 cedis to support the efforts of the Western North Region to contain the spread of Covid-19. The assistance was in the form of medical consumables and PPE to health facilities and our communities.

Currently, a maternity facility has been completed for the Chirano Health Centre and will soon be opened.

Chirano has also contributed significantly to national development through the payment of taxes, royalties and other statutory payments. We paid a total of US$1.57 million in taxes, incuding $550,000 in mineral and forestry royalties. $700,000 in corporate income tax, $230,000 in employee income tax and $90,000 in import duties.

To our scholarship beneficiaries, you are a few chosen from many applicants for this opportunity. You have a duty to yourselves, your family and communities to make the most of this by continuing to be very successful students. The knowledge you will acquire shall set you on a path to a good future to enable you to transform the lives of your people.

This is not a blanket scholarship, even though you have been awarded the scholarship for the entire duration of your tertiary education, it is subject to good performance.  I wish you the best.