Bibiani Gold Mine : Asante Gold begins commercial production

Asante Gold has commenced commercial production at the Bibiani Gold Mine situated in the Western Region of Ghana following three months of consistent production since July 2022.

The Canadian gold exploration and development company commenced mining at the gold mine in Ghana in late February 2022. The first gold pour was completed on 7 July 2022, two months ahead of schedule.

Metallurgical performance and gold production at the Bibiani Gold Mine are on target with the ramp-up schedule, according to the Vancouver-based company.

With around 220,000 tonnes of throughput in September 2022 and approximately 206,000 tonnes in the following month, Asante Gold intends to augment output to 250,000 tonnes of ore a month by the first quarter of next year.

Dave Anthony — Asante Gold President and CEO said: “We are very pleased with the progress has been achieved at Bibiani. Over the past 12 months the Bibiani Mine Team has established a track record of over achievement and we look forward to increasing the value of this asset.

“As we gather momentum at the Bibiani Mine, and advance with exploration activities and production improvement initiatives, we look forward to providing further updates.”

The Bibiani Gold Mine, which previously produced over 4Moz of gold, is anticipated to produce 175,000 oz of gold in the period of 12 months.

Asante Gold begins commercial production at the Bibiani Gold Mine in Ghana. Photo courtesy of Asante Gold begins commercial production at the Bibiani Gold Mine in Ghana.

With 9,300 oz of gold production in September and 9,910 oz in October, gold production is expected to increase to approximately 20,000 oz per month by early 2023.

With successful development exploration at Russel South, Asante Gold intends to increase the open pit Life of Mine of the Bibiani Gold Mine from 8.3 years to over 10 years.

Asante Gold said that it will continue its near mine development exploration program with planned drilling of nearly 30,000 metres per annum for 2022, 2023, and 2024.

The underground mine program initiative at the Bibiani gold project is expected to ramp up annual gold production and proceed from 2025 and extend the mine life beyond the period of open pit mining.

In August 2021, Asante Gold acquired the Bibiani mine from Australia’s Resolute Mining and completed its project execution plan that included refurbishment and upgrade of the process plant, tailings storage facility, as well as mine site infrastructure.

Currently, Asante Gold is operating the Bibiani and Chirano gold mines with a combined forecast production of 335,000 oz of gold for the next 12 months.