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Festus Bumankama Agyapong, a Ghanaian metallurgist, has made Ghana proud at this year's "Generation Gold Programme" in Alaska, USA.

The Generation Gold Programme trains engineers in the extractive industry.

He was among three graduates who stood out in the programme which helps to build capacities in the processing of various metals and alloys.

This year’s graduates gained a variety of experiences working across the global operations over the last three years.

He is currently with Fort Knox, a USA military installation in Kentucky which houses a large portion of the United States official gold reserves.

The programme is dedicated to advancing employee development and leadership skills.

It allows employees to work through various activities that teach new capabilities, help them sharpen skills and broaden one's knowledge.

Festus Bumankama Agyapong

He is the son of Katakyie Kwasi Bumagama II Sefwi Wiawso Omanhene and Council of State member.

He attended the Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast and furthered to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi.

Festus grew up in the Sefwi-Wiawso region of Ghana and began his career as a junior metallurgist at Chirano in 2012 after earning a Bachelor of Science in Material Engineering and a Certificate in Metallurgical Engineering.

Festus became interested in the Generation Gold program and believed it would be an excellent opportunity to gain global experience working across a variety of climates and cultures.

He joined the program in 2019 working at Bald Mountain in Nevada as a Metallurgist. During this time, he was exposed to management of ounce production, the VCIC/CIC and cyanide plant optimizations, production reporting and worked throughout the Assay and Metallurgy Labs. After 18 months, Festus transferred to Fort Knox in Alaska where he had the opportunity to expand his skills and gain exposure to new methods of mine operations including working on one of the few cold weather heap leach facilities in the world and working on project-specific tasks including in-pit tailings and the Manh Choh project.

During his time in the program, Festus gained broad knowledge in his field, while learning the importance of health and safety and how our safety culture is interchangeable across our global operations.

Since graduating from the program, Festus has joined Fort Knox as a full-time Metallurgist where he is passionate about the responsibilities, leadership and challenges the site has to offer and is excited to share his knowledge and experience gained during his time in the Generation Gold program. Festus hopes to strengthen his leadership skills and one day become the General Manger of a mine.

Experience

The Ghanaian metallurgist was exposed to the management of ounce production, cyanide plant optimisations, and production reporting and worked throughout the Assay and Metallurgy Labs.

After 18 months, Agyapong transferred to Fort Knox in Alaska where he had the opportunity to expand his skills.

He also gained exposure to new methods of mine operations including working on one of the few cold-weather heap leach facilities in the world and working on project-specific tasks including in-pit tailings and the Manh Choh project.

Festus gained broad knowledge in his field, while learning the importance of health and safety and how our safety culture is interchangeable across our global operations.

Since graduating from the programme, Festus has joined Fort Knox as a full-time metallurgist where he is passionate about the responsibilities, leadership and challenges the site has to offer and is excited to share his knowledge and experience gained during his time in the Generation Gold Programme.

The Generation Gold program

The Generation Gold program relaunched in 2018 with a refreshed approach that consists of two 18-month assignments at different Kinross mines, including a one-week ‘Foundation School’ at our corporate headquarters in Toronto.

This year’s graduates gained a variety of experiences working across our global operations over the last three years. Let’s learn more about each graduate and their accomplishments!