Asante Gold Corporation, today Thursday announced that the Bibiani Gold Mine ramp up remains on track and commercial production has been established with three months of consistent production since the first gold pour was completed in early July 2022.
The first gold pour at Bibiani was completed July 7, 2022, two months ahead of schedule. Metallurgical performance and gold production is on track with the ramp up schedule.
All process plant and mine facilities have been operating on a 24 hour per day basis from late June, with ~220,000 tonnes in September and~206,000 tonnes in October. Asante 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.
The 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 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 (see press releases of March 29th and August 17th) 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.
The Bibiani orebodies typically dip near-vertical and are open at depth. Bibiani has initiated an underground mine planning study to define development of an underground mine operation that will access mineralized deposits below the Main Pit and the satellite pits. 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.
Dave Anthony, President and CEO stated, “We are very pleased with the progress that 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.”
About Asante Gold Corporation
Asante is a gold exploration, development and operating company with a high-quality portfolio of projects and mines in Ghana. Asante is currently operating the Bibiani and Chirano Gold Mines with a combined forecast production of 335,000 oz of gold over the next 12 months. The Company continues with detailed technical studies at its Kubi Gold Project for early production. All mines and projects are located on the prolific Bibiani and Ashanti Gold Belts. Asante has an experienced and skilled team of mine finders, builders and operators, with extensive experience in Ghana. Asante is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, the Ghana Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Asante is also exploring its Keyhole, Fahiakoba and Betenase projects for new discoveries, all adjoining or along strike of major gold mines near the centre of Ghana’s Golden Triangle.
About the Bibiani Gold Mine
Bibiani is a historically significant gold mine situated in the Western Region of Ghana, with previous gold production of more than 4Moz. It is fully permitted with available mining and processing infrastructure on-site consisting of a newly refurbished 3 million tonne per annum process plant, and existing mining infrastructure. Mining commenced in late February with the first gold pour announced on July 7, 2022, with forecast 12 month gold production of 175,000 oz.
