Program Fast Track

To me, the FT Programme is an invaluable opportunity to gain a vast amount of technical and corporate experience across multiple-disciplines and business units over a relatively short period of time, giving you the chance to add contribute significantly to the company’s operations whilst also progressing one’s career much faster than might otherwise be possible elsewhere.

Over the course of the programme, I hope to gain a holistic understanding of Nordgold’s mineral resource management (from greenfields exploration through to resource definition and mine geology) as well as a fundamental appreciation of the mining and metallurgical departments’ day-to-day operations. In addition, working on a combination of both technical and business improvement projects not only at Bissa but also potentially across other mines within the Company’s portfolio would hopefully provide me with the effective skills required to subsequently move into more direct managerial roles.

So far, I’ve been supported by two coaches whilst working at Bissa: the BSN Director and Chief Exploration Geologist. Both have been very hands-on and proactive in providing guidance regarding routine project design and implementation, but the opportunity to work closely with such figures has also been extremely valuable when it comes to understanding the Company’s procedures and general business strategy.

I first came across the programme when browsing LinkedIn through a number of posts from Nordgold advertising the scheme, and then followed up for more details by looking at the website and getting in touch with a contact at Bissa who had studied at the same university as me and worked for the same previous company.

Having been working within the natural resources industry for roughly 5 years before joining, Nordgold’s Fast Track programme was the first widely available company-led scheme that I had seen advertised which directly focused on developing the technical and leadership abilities of early career professionals, so that aspect alone made it very unique amongst its competitors. More broadly, as a company, Nordgold seems clearly driven to grow and secure its longer term future through the acquisition of more advanced staged projects which it can develop into successful mines; and whilst this inherently has a notable positive implications for the business as a whole, this would also likely translate to even greater career opportunities going forward.

The program offers a chance to be immersed in a challenging gold-mining environment where you can take on interesting projects and learn from experienced professionals.

I hope to accept increasing responsibility as part of Nordgold’s efforts across the gold-mining value chain at Lefa and possibly elsewhere.

My coach and my mentor have decades of experience between them and have always been happy to offer guidance on how to navigate technical and non-technical problems.

I found out about the FastTrack program from a jobs website during my final year of university.

I am grateful for the unique experience that Nordgold offers with the FastTrack program and I look forward to continuing my professional growth with the company in the coming years.

I joined the Fast-Track program as part of the initial pilot wave in 2018, upon completion of my undergraduate degree in ‘Mining Engineering’ at the Camborne School of Mines. I was instantly attracted to the Nordgold’ s Fast-Track program as it presented a unique & rare opportunity for young professionals to get exposure into the technical, operational & management aspects within mining. The program has top-tier professionals with enormous experience who show a genuine interest & care in your career & professional development. Whilst also learning myself, I have had the pleasure of working alongside & teaching the National workforce, be it in blast design software’s or even using Industrial Drones. The autonomy offered by Nordgold has enabled me to develop unique solutions but to also establish & implement new systems that have demonstrated substantial economic impacts. The freedom to take ownership over a diverse range of projects, not only enables you to make a direct impact on the business, but also rapidly develop skills & knowledge. The program has taken me across all the 3 West Africa Business units, working on a multitude of projects, be it rebuilding a Fleet management System, optimizing the WA sites D&B performance, Waste dump designs, creating 3D models with industrial drones or constructing & designing haul roads. No 2 days will ever be the same.

For me, the Fast Track program is an opportunity to learn how to manage all the stages of gold processing. This is a chance to become a professional in your field, to learn all the areas on the mine and in the company as a whole.

Next year, my internship program comes to an end, I will be appointed to the position of GD-2, I hope it will be the position of chief metallurgist at the Suzdal mine. In 2 years, I plan to achieve the maximum possible results from myself in working at a metallurgical plant. Increase end-to-end extraction and reduce the cost of gold production costs. In 5 years, I see myself in the position of GD-1 at one of the Nordgold sites, existing or new one, where I will be able to implement all my ambitious plans.

My mentor leads me in the right direction throughout the program, as I am currently undergoing my internship, and I need his experience and knowledge for proper development in the field of metallurgy. My coach gives me projects to develop both professional skills and leadership qualities.

In March 2018 I learned about the Fast Track program from the manager of the HQ production department Olga Tupikina. At that time, I was working as a processing engineer for the BIOX and hydrometallurgy department at the Suzdal mine. This program was interesting for me, as it opened doors to development and opportunity to advance at a rapid pace with constant training on-the-job.

I am glad that more than two years ago I decided to step out of my comfort zone and participate in the Fast Track program. Then I was terribly interested and a little scared of what lies ahead. Looking back now, I realize that if I had to choose whether or not to participate in the Fast Track program again, as I did 2 years ago, my decision would be the same. During these 2 years, I have gained tremendous experience, knowledge and communication with professionals in my field, I have worked at 3 mines, in various positions, participated in large and small projects and just had a great time. Thank you for everything Nordgold!

I do not know why it happened, but on December 26, 2017, I received a letter " At the moment, Nordgold is launching Fast Track program - for young mining professionals who are seeking to be the best. The goal of the program is to attract young professionals with high potential, who will hold key management positions after 3 years of the program». I was very surprised to receive that letter from Nordgold, since at that time I was not looking for a job. Firstly I didn't quite believe it, but I decided to participate, to try myself. And I applied, and then the tests, interviews, and case studies began.

After receiving a letter about the program, I started studying the Nordgold website and watched the presentation of the Fast track program. I was attracted with the opportunity to get a unique experience, try out different functions and project work. Also, in addition to professional development, the program provides an opportunity for rapid career development. For me, it was a challenge and I decided to test myself whether I would be able to pass this path in 4 years and whether I would be worthy of award to be a manager.

During 2.5 years in the Fast Track program, I managed to work at 3 sites of the company, immersed in all the processes of the site. I met a lot of people from workers in various functions to the executive directors of the mines. I have a huge net of contacts. Now I am at the 3rd stage of the program and we are getting acquainted with cross functions. This is a unique opportunity to look at the work of your key function from different points of view: to see the point where you are, to see your function from the internal client and internal supplier. The 4th stage is ahead. It is the opportunity to become a leader, to show your leadership qualities. To complete this stage and the entire program, I need to apply all the knowledge, skills and competencies acquired in the previous stages. At the end of the program, I can become a reservist for the position of GD-1, in my case, this is the position of the Director of Mineral Resources. I have a long-term goal to become a mine director and the Fast Track program will help me become worthy of this position.

Fast Track program is a great opportunity to get international experience and become acquainted with the mining industry.

I would like to continue to develop in the data analysis and modeling area and work on some global projects.

In my case, every project is a collaboration with a coach. He is indicating the bottlenecks and improvement areas in his department, while Im gathering all the data about the process, doing it analysis, building hypotheses which helps us to understand how we can improve the situation. After detailed analysis we proceed to the improvements. Work with a mentor is more global – he helps to define priority strategic directions.

I found an announcement on the hh.ru website. For me, it was important to work in an international environment, so I applied for this position.

Nordgold is paying a lot of attention to the efficiency of its operation and making good progress in this direction. Fast Track program perfectly complements this goal.

I see the Fast Track Program as an opportunity to be assigned a large amount of responsibility and to develop a set of managerial skills early on in my career, which will positively impact my development as a professional in the mining industry. There is a well-defined path laid out in front of me that will expose me to key functions within the Business Unit that might provide an opportunity for a quick career advancement within Nordgold, which motivates me to do well in the program. Working in a diverse and multicultural team of exceptional professionals not only allows me to develop professionally, but is also enriching on a personal level due to daily interactions with people who come from a variety of backgrounds and hold different world-views.

The areas on which I want to focus in the near-future are my leadership skills, integration of technical knowledge with management techniques and data science. I plan to make use of every opportunity for my further development in the program and to become very familiar with how the West African Business Units operate. I am a highly driven geologist and I plan to keep increasing my competencies with the aim to find myself in a position of responsibility at a senior, decision-making level within the next 5 years. Even if I do fall short of this target I will be certain to always make informed decisions based on a solid technical background and the best data available. Above all else - whatever I will end up doing I want to do it well.

In the past, I was extremely lucky to have worked under incredibly knowledgeable and approachable mentors who have helped to guide the early stage of my career. For that reason, the mentorship aspect of the Fast Track Program was a huge draw for me. Currently, the projects which I am leading provide me with flexibility in regards to how I implement changes and the way I approach project and people management. My coaches support me in project implementation by offering day-to-day advice, feedback, and if so required, they help me to reflect on key issues and redirect my focus. On the other hand, the mentoring sessions with an HQ-based industry expert allow for an exchange of professional and personal experiences in an informal setting and focus my growth as a professional.

I have keenly watched the recruitment for the Fast-Track program in the two years prior to my application. At the time I was not eligible to apply for the position due to a lack of a postgraduate degree and limited work experience. However, following the submission of my Masters’ thesis, job-searching became my full-time occupation and the advertisement for the next intake for the Fast-Track Program was posted soon after. I applied for the position the same day and a number of highly interactive assessment stages later I have been offered a place in the program. I could not wait to begin working at Bissa-Bouly!

I have joined the Fast Track program mid-pandemic. Considering that the entire world seems to have turned upside-down the transition into the program has been relatively smooth. On my journey thus far, I have been working in Business Systems Nordgold, where I am a project lead on a number of interesting optimisation projects within the Mineral Resources Department, in addition to occasional projects in different functional areas. The end of my first year in the Fast Track Program is rapidly approaching and I am looking forward to the next challenges ahead in Stage 2, where I will be exposed to different Geology sub-functions at Bissa-Bouly. I am a strong believer in sustainable development of natural resources and that mining companies should promote education, training and inclusion to support local communities and to provide worthwhile work opportunities for the national workforce. Upon my arrival at Bissa, I was happy to see that the company offers such opportunities through various initiatives, such as purchasing vegetables from local farmers, providing vocational training for equipment operators from nearby settlements, or through continuous development of national specialists through ‘PERSPECTIVE’ and ‘STEPS’ leadership programs to help staff members realise their potential.

It is an opportunity to put into application the theoretical knowledge that I have acquired during my academic training. It constitutes then a ground for me to strengthen my professional knowledge, acquire more professional experiences while revealing what I can do too. It is, in short, a professional growth and development initiative for me.

My professional expectation in: one year, is to continue providing the company with my skills by taking up news challenges and helping the company to achieve its goals. In two years I want to grow more in experience by strengthening my capacities, becoming a more seasoned woman and assigned to higher responsibilities in the company. For me, the main concern is to continue working as a team, to give the best of myself, to be more competitive and more profitable and to work diligently in order to be able to occupy a higher position in 5 years. For this I intend to invest myself in diligently, while respecting and promoting values of Nordgold.

My coaches and mentors participate in my projects by advising, guiding and providing me with the necessary tools for the success of my projects. They also share they idea about my project.

I found out info about Fast Track program on LinkedIn, then I when to Nordgold web site to get more information about the program.

It is a good place to work and people are awesome. Nordgold gives full opportunity to people to acquire knowledge and experience. They promote young talent through programs such as Fast Track which allow young professionals in the mining sector to enter professional life and aspire to high positions within the company.

The fast track program has been an opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and push myself to perform at the top of my game. Prior to accepting the position I had limited travel experience outside of Canada, and had never worked in a location outside of Canada or in a language outside of my native English. The program has been a career changing opportunity, if you step up to the plate and take control of your work and projects there’s no ceiling on how high you can progress or opportunities for development that will be offered to you. If you push to be exposed to new areas, take on additional duties and perform, there’s no limit to the development you can receive while in the program. I have now worked at three distinct process plants across two countries within the program.

My career expectations are focused on continuing to build on the past 3-years of the fast track program, with my 1year outlook taking over a Process Superintendent position at one of the west African business units, although I would jump at the opportunity to do a short rotation at Gross during winter to better understand heap leach operation during winter conditions, Gross is a high performing asset and I believe would be a great learning experience. My 2 year outlook is very much similar to the one year outlook, by year 2 out of the program I would like to be fully positioned in the superintendent position, continuing to expand my managerial experience and excelling in the position. The 5 year outlook i would like to be in the pipeline for a GD-1 position within the process department, with ongoing development from Nordgold to facilitate this transition.

I have been lucky to have excellent mentors in Glenn Smith and Philip Engelbrecht, both have been very supportive from the start and have pushed me to grow and take on more and more responsibility. They have trusted me to run with projects myself while always being there to answer questions or provide support when needed. They put me in positions where I not only was responsible for large projects but also for operational oversight of Bouly.

At the time I applied to the fast track program I was working at a gold mine in norther Canada, I was looking at companies that had assets in Africa, both exploration construction and active operations as becoming an expat was always a longer term career goal of mine, and I wanted to understand the environment and opportunities better. I came across the Nordgold Fast Track program while looking through companies and felt that I matched the competencies quite well and that my fluency in French would greatly improve my chances for the position. I sent in a resume and 6 months of interviews later, I accepted a position with Nordgold at Bissa/Bouly as a Management Trainee within the process department.

The Fast Track is for me a program for young mining professional, to develop their leadership, their technical skills. This program will contribute to provide a new generation of mining professional.

For the first year my expectation was to be able to learn and known how to use bsn tools. It’s still on going. However for the next year I expect to be completely integrate in mining not to be focus on one section but to be able to still continue to do what I already know and gain opportunity to learn strategical mine planning, to participate to mining budget,forcasting,mining business plan, cost calculation and evaluation. And for the next five year I expect to be mining manager in local or expat.

My friend who already did the program inform me about the Program.

Fast track program is an very good opportunity for mining young professional improvement. However, more attention has to be pay in coaching. For me to be able to be a good manager in mining you have to get very good technical skills and each coach has to know exactly, what is the background of his trainee, before thinking how I can help him to growth. Nordgold is a good company, I like the mind there and I hope we will continue.