Asante Gold Corporation has announced commercial production of the Bibiani gold mine in the Western Region.
The announcement by Asante Gold is contained in a press statement issued on November 10, 2022 copied to the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).
The gold mining firm in the statement posits that, there has been three months of consistent production since the first gold pour was completed in early July 2022.
According to Asante Gold, all processing plant and mine facilities have been operating on a 24 hour per day basis from late June, with ~220,000 tonnes of gold ore produced in September and~206,000 tonnes of gold ore produced in October.
Adding that the gold firm plans to increase throughput to 250,000 tonnes ore per month by Q1 2023.
Gold production in September was above 9,300 ounces, 17% above the Company’s start up plan. October production was 9,910 ounces, 15% above plan.
“Gold production will continue to ramp up to ~20,000 oz per month by early 2023. Walsh Pit continues to outperform relative to our initial planned gold production. As this pit has been developed, the grade control drilling program has been a key component to development of this trend.
The Company’s plan is to extend the Bibiani open pit Life of Mine (LOM) from 8.3 years to +10 years is on track with successful development exploration at Russel South and drilling programs continue at the Grasshopper and Elizabeth deposits as planned.
“The Company will continue its near mine development exploration program with planned drilling of approximately 30,000 metres per year for 2022, 2023 and 2024,” said the mining firm.
Asante anticipates the underground mine program initiative will increase annual gold production significantly and proceed from 2025 and extend mine life beyond the period of open pit mining,” it added.
Speaking about the commencement of commercial production from the Bibiani gold mine, Dave Anthony, President and CEO of Asante Gold quipped, “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.”
