London – 13 June 2022: Women in Mining UK 2021 Summer Internship at Golden Star Resources- Margaret Ekua Amosah
Written by: Margaret Ekua Amosah
WIM UK GOLDEN STAR WASSA MINE INTERNSHIP REPORT
My internship with Golden Star was based at the Wassa Gold Mine, Ghana where I worked as a Plant Metallurgist, working on projects that look to optimize current plant processing methods.
I was really impressed by the procedures of calcining and smelting of gold. The melted gold is then poured into moulds and cooled down in water. With my degree and understanding in minerals processing, I really enjoyed my visit to the gold room. This provided me with the understanding of each processing step and created a better picture of the practical methods of processing ores into final products (bullion bars) before sale.
I witnessed how smelted gold samples are picked and prepared for purity and finess testing in the laboratory. After understanding the operations on site, I worked on three major projects which were all aimed towards cost reduction, improving work efficiency and optimization on the plant.
These projects included digitisation of Daily Data Logs produced onsite, inputting data into a database to allow for safe data storage and easy access to the information.
I was also involved in data comiltation and monitoring of the Weak Acid Dissociable (WAD) analyser project, which assessed the possibility of using technical grade reagents for WAD cyanide analysis using the TAC 100OS analyser. Analytical grade reagent used for this analysis was replaced with technical grade reagent. After monitoring the WAD analyser for weeks, the technical grade reagent (high purity levels) was shown to cut down yearly cost by 80% and lasted longer compared to the analytical grade used initially.
I am currently working on my third project which seeks to assess flocculant effects on binder performance in the new paste fill plant.