Newmont Goldcorp has started commercial production from the expanded Ahafo Mill in Ghana which processes ore produced from the Ahafo gold mine in Ghana.

The Ahafo Mill expansion project was wrapped up on schedule and within the budget of around $175 million, said the gold mining giant.

The mill expansion project has been carried out with a goal to boost the average annual gold production at the Ahafo mine by 75,000-100,000 ounces for the first five years, starting from 2020. The capacity of the Ahafo Mill is expected to be expanded by more than 50% with the installation of a new crusher, grinding mill and leach tanks.

Along with the Subika Underground project, which was wrapped in November 2018, the Ahafo Mill expansion project is estimated to boost the average annual gold production of the Ahafo gold mine to 550,000-650,000 ounces per year through 2024, while bringing down life-of-mine processing costs.

Tom Palmer – President and CEO of Newmont Goldcorp said: “The Ahafo Mill Expansion represents our third profitable project delivered on schedule and within budget in 2019, along with the Tanami Power project in Australia and the Borden mine in Canada.

“The mill expansion is expected to generate an internal rate of return of more than 20 percent at a $1,200 gold price, while also extending profitable production at Ahafo through at least 2029. I continue to be encouraged by Ahafo’s and Ghana’s mineral prospectivity and the potential for ongoing, profitable growth.”

According to Newmont Goldcorp, the Ahafo gold mine is likely to see record production in 2019 owing to improved costs, which in turn has been due to higher grades from the Subika open pit mine, a full year of mining from the Subika Underground project and the execution of the Ahafo Mill Expansion project.

The Ahafo gold mine, which started commercial production in 2006, and last year, the operation is said to have sold 436,000 ounces of gold at all-in sustaining costs of $864 per ounce, said Newmont Goldcorp.

  Ahafo gold mine, Ahafo Mill, Ghana, Newmont Goldcorp, Subika Underground project, Tom Palmer