[miningmx.com] — GOLD miner AngloGold Ashanti expects its Obuasi mine in Ghana to produce around 400,000 ounces of gold per year by 2012, up from 383,000 tonnes last year, the firm said on Wednesday.
Current annual production averages a smaller 350,000 ounces, as the mine recovers from a temporary output suspension earlier this year.
“We are working around the challenges and it is my determination to fix the mine and stabilise it around 400,000 (ounces),” said Kwesi Enyan, managing director of Obuasi, talking to Reuters on the sidelines of an AngloGold event in Ghanaian capital Accra.
AngloGold’s other Ghanaian mine, Iduapriem, produces an average 190,000 ounces of gold, which the firm expects to remain stable for the remaining 10 years of the mine’s life.
The two Ghanaian mines together accounted for 14% of the firm’s total output of 4.6 million ounces of gold in 2009.
AngloGold Ashanti is the world’s third biggest gold producing firm, and Ghana is Africa’s second biggest producing country, after South Africa.
Gold prices hit record highs on Europe on Wednesday, supported by investors buying bullion as an alternative asset as worries mount about a weakening dollar.
