In 2018, we launched the ‘new’ Generation Gold program – a refreshed approach to the program that consists of two 18-month assignments at different Kinross mines, including a one-week ‘Foundation School’ at our corporate headquarters in Toronto. Eligible candidates for the refreshed program should have approximately two years of Kinross experience in the fields of metallurgy, mine engineering, or geology.
The updated Generation Gold program now has its first two graduates – Samuel Acheampong, Business Optimization Engineer, Chirano and Mohamed Fall, Strategic Business Planning Superintendent, Tasiast.
Let’s learn more about Samuel and Mohamed and their experience in the program!
Samuel started his career at Kinross in 2015 working as an underground training officer at Chirano. One year later, he was promoted to operations engineer and underground shift supervisor. Samuel was passionate about continuing to advance his career and gaining global experience which led him to join the Generation Gold program in 2018.
Samuel’s first assignment was at Bald Mountain, Nevada, where he gained experience working in an international location and was instrumental in the development of the Vantage Complex and Mooney 6 leach pads. During his time at Bald Mountain, Samuel was given the opportunity to transition his skills from underground mining to open pit mining, as well as learn a new discipline by transferring from a mine operations role to technical services.
Samuel later moved to Round Mountain, Nevada, for his second assignment where he was able to take his experience from Bald Mountain and apply it to a more senior role. He grew his experience in open pit mining by managing the operations shifts – something he had only previously done in underground mining – and even learned how to operate the CAT 793F trucks used on site. He later played an integral role in Round Mountain’s mine planning by working cross-functionally to coordinate key interests from various departments and managed the mine dispatch management system.
Since completing his assignments in Nevada, Samuel is now back at Chirano working in a business optimization role where he hopes to use his global experience in mine planning and operations for both surface and underground mining to optimize current operations. Samuel hopes to be a coach and mentor for young engineers both at Kinross and in his community, and to continue being a global resource for operations strategy.
Mohamed joined Kinross in 2015 working as a mine planner at our Tasiast mine in Mauritania. Mohamed has always been passionate about travelling, discovering other cultures and gaining global experience. In 2018, he joined the Generation Gold program in an effort to advance his career while furthering his passion for travel.
Mohamed’s first assignment was at our Dvoinoye mine in Russia working as a Mine Engineer. During his time at Dvoinoye, Mohamed was able to further his knowledge in the mining industry, specifically underground mining, and learning a variety of disciplines including financial and economic modeling, business case development, and even working briefly at Kupol’s processing plant.
Mohamed later moved to Paracatu, Brazil, for his second assignment working as a Mine Engineer. During his time at Paracatu, Mohamed was exposed to strategic business planning and strategic updates as well as mine and pit optimization, reserve and resource estimation and tailings reprocessing.
Since completing his assignments in Russia and Brazil, Mohamed has returned to Tasiast where he is responsible for managing the process, integration and communication of the site’s strategic business planning department. He returned to Tasiast and wanted to share his learnings with his team and continue to build on the economic and social environment of his community. Mohamed hopes to continue to develop his technical, business and leadership skills and one day become a contributing member of Tasiast’s management team.
Check out photos of Samuel and Mohamed during their time in the Generation Gold program below!
