Asante’s first gold pour, a significant milestone in the company’s operations which was announced on Thursday, July 7, 2022, is expected to contribute to a positive outlook of the gold sub-sector, after encountering headwinds since last year.
In less than a year after taking over the Bibiani gold mine from Resolute Mining, Asante Gold’s journey with refurbishing Bibiani has turned a great success. The company has since the beginning of the year, entered into several transactions that are expected to cement the company’s presence in the Ghanaian mining industry.
To a very large extent these will augur well to increase its portfolio and ultimately add to shoring up the country’s overall gold output portfolio. Over the past year, the country’s gold outturn has not been impressive due to several shortfalls at the various mines across the country.
In Q1 2022, Fitch Solutions, the research arm of Fitch Ratings underscored several headwinds facing the country’s export drive, highlighting the decline in gold output which has over the years catapulted the country’s export revenues to record levels.
Fitch Solutions argued that while these headwinds in exports are associated with the country’s primary export commodities (cocoa and oil), a stronger gold production in 2022 from Asante Gold’s expected Q3 2022 output will act as tailwind to the country’s export drive.
“These headwinds to exports will be somewhat tempered by stronger gold production, which will be supported by the recommissioning of the Bibiani gold mine– expected to start its first gold pour in Q3, 2022- and the government’s efforts to curtail illicit mining activities.”
Fitch Solutions
Asante’s Output to serve as Tailwind to the Industry
Statistics from the Ghana Chamber of Mines show that the volume of gold attributable to producers in Ghana declined from 4.022 million ounces in 2020 to 2.818 million ounces in 2021, which is the lowest level of output since 2008.
“In 2022, we expect most of the mines to operate at a steady-state level and thereby address the challenges that confronted their operations in 2021. In that regard, we project an increase in gold output of the producing member companies to a range of 2.9 million ounces to 3 million ounces in 2022.”
Ghana Chamber of Mines
Thus, with the announcement of the first gold pour at its Bibiani mine, the gold miner is therefore on track to produce approximately 175,000oz of gold in its first 12 months of operations.
The fact that Asante has made its first gold pour on time (Q3 2022) at its Bibiani mine provides tailwinds that will push Ghana’s gold exports higher and accelerate Ghana’s vision of becoming West Africa’s mining hub.
Asante Gold’s CEO, Dave Anthony, is cited to have said:
“From the outset of our acquisition of the Bibiani Gold Mine, Asante has made a number of commitments to our stakeholders, including the local community, the Government of Ghana and our investors.
“We are proud that all of the commitments we made in the past 10 months relating to the Bibiani Gold Mine have been met or exceeded, up to this time. The quality and timeliness of work completed by the Asante team is testament to their abilities and commitment to delivering results as planned.”
Dave Anthony
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