Asante Gold Corporation has poured its first gold at the Bibiani Gold Mine after it listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

A statement issued by the company and copied to the Ghanaian Times, said the exercise had been completed successfully with the process of gravity gold concentrate recovered by the Knelson Concentrator.

Asante acquired the Bibiani Gold Mine in August 2021 and completed its project execution plan that included refurbishment and upgrade of the Process Plant, Tailings Storage Facility and Mine Site Infrastructure.  

The statement said in September 2021, Asante announced start of the refurbishment process and the company’s plan to pour gold in Q3 2022.

It said in early June 2022, Asante announced the start of commissioning and operation of the Bibiani Process Plant.  

The statement said since July 1, 2022, 24 hour per day operation had proceeded with the Carbon-in-Leach, carbon stripping and elution areas now operating.

It said hot Commissioning of the Gold Refinery was completed on July 7 and that was the final operating area of the process plant to be commissioned.  

The statement said scale up of production was continuing as planned, including collection of gold on carbon, leading to delivery of approximately 175,000 ounces of gold over the next 12 months.

Commenting on the first gold pour, Asante Gold’s Chief Executive Officer,  Dave Anthony, stated, that  “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,” he said.

“We recognize and thank our principal project partners, all of which have been Ghanaian companies, including Harlequin International, Rabotec, KPS, Kozah Construction, iConstruction, Emak, Electrowind, FLSmidth –Ghana, Caesar Furnace, Mining Project Processing and Engineering Limited(MPPE), Top Quality Investments Limited, Rand Sandblasting Company, Tesla Electricals, Multigeomatics, Knight Piesold Ghana Limited,Bosch Rexroth (Ghana) and PW International (Ghana) Limited,” he said.

Asante is a gold exploration, development, and operating company with a high-quality portfolio of projects in Ghana.

The company is currently focused on closing the acquisition of the Chirano Gold Mine from Kinross Gold Corporation and developing to production its Bibiani and Kubi Gold mines located on the prolific Bibiani and Ashanti Gold Belts.

Asante is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, the Ghana Stock Exchange and quoted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and  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.