Georgy Smirnov, CEO of Nordgold, spoke with TASS news agency before the Russia-Africa summit about the specifics of the company's operations in Africa and about its projects to develop communities in the region.
Smirnov shared the details of the projects that Nordgold has implemented over the 15 years of its presence in Africa which coincides with the date of the company's foundation. For example, Nordgold built a clinic in Lero, Guinea, a town next to the company's gold mine, and 10 years ago, it built the Tiben reservoir near the Bissa mine, helping local farmers grow crops all year round.
According to Smirnov, this has to do with the company's strategy of developing projects from the earliest stages and its desire to maximize the use of local resources, including hiring local staff.
"We always observe and look first and foremost at potential opportunities of our projects, and we are not afraid to develop them, as to say, from scratch, or from an early exploration stage," Smirnov said in an interview with TASS.
"Working with projects in the early stages is more difficult than buying existing enterprises, but this has never scared us."
Nordgold manages gold mining operations in Russia, Kazakhstan, Burkina Faso and Guinea and has a number of other promising projects.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
