Meet Goldfields’ Catherine Kuupol, who is now the first woman general manager in Ghana’s mining history

Get to know Ms. Catherine Kuupol, a mineral engineer who has provided metallurgical technical services to Ghana’s mining communities for almost two decades.

In Ghana’s mining industry, where men largely dominate, she has achieved a historic feat. Mining giant Goldfields has appointed her as the General Manager of its Tarkwa mine, making her the first woman in Ghana’s mining industry to hold the position.

She comes into the position with over 20 years of experience in gold mining and a proven track record in metallurgical processes. In her current role, she will oversee the day-to-day operations of the company’s mining areas, ensuring adherence to Ghana’s Minerals and Mining Regulations.

Before her current promotion, she was the first female Metallurgical Manager at Goldfields West Africa, overseeing the company’s Tarkwa and Damang mines. She has also worked at all levels, gaining practical as well as managerial experience with her past roles being Unit manager in 2015 and Metallurgical superintendent in 2013 — all at the Damang mine.

Before that, Kuupol worked at Golden Star Ltd’s Wassa mine from 2004 to 2013, where she acquired practical experience as a laboratory metallurgist, shift foreman, senior plant shift supervisor, and International Cyanide Management Code coordinator, according to WAIMM.

She is a member of the Ghana Institution of Engineers, a fellow and governing council member of the West Africa Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum, and a member of Women in Mining-Ghana and Ladies in Mining and Allied Professions.

During the Women in Mining and Energy Awards (WIMEA) held in Ghana in August 2021, she received the Personality of the Year and Exemplary Leadership awards. She was also among ‘‘The 100 Most Influential Personalities from Northern Ghana—Project 2019.”

In a recent report, Goldfields Ghana’s total female representation in its core workforce reached 12% in 2023. Its female representation in management also improved, reaching 19% in that same year.

Kuupol’s rise in the mining industry has shown that women can show excellence in any role, motivating other young female engineers and metallurgists to rise to the top in their chosen careers.

She has always believed that everyone is capable of reaching great heights if they work hard at it. Her journey, she said, has been the result of hard work, perseverance, and diligence to achieve targets.

In addition to striving for success and excellence, Kuupol is very committed to grooming women in mining to aspire to greater heights. In this regard, she set up an award scheme through the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), i.e., “The Catherine Kuupol-Kuutor Award,” which started in the 2019/2020 academic year and targets women.

Kuupol is a graduate of KNUST-School of Mines (now the University of Mines and Technology, UMaT). She studied mineral engineering and received an MSc in mineral engineering from the same university in 2011. She’s currently a PhD candidate in mineral engineering at UMaT.