GHANA miner Asante Gold said on Wednesday it had concluded terms for a recapitalisation of its balance sheet in which it will raise $470m.
The funds will contribute towards clearing existing debt of $53m to Kinross Gold Corp. related to Asante’s $225m acquisition of Kinross’s 90% stake in Chirano mine in 2022. Asante will also issue shares to Kinross as well as convertible debentures which, if converted would give Kinross no more than 18% of Asante.
Asante has struggled to pay off the Kinross deal. It last year rescheduled the debt package following a $100m share issue, also aimed at bolstering its balance sheet.
Nonetheless, the debt portion of the $470m is a major vote of confidence in Asante which also operates the Bibiani mine in Ghana. The company has targeted production of 500,000 ounces annually by 2028 and $2bn in net free cash.
Private equity investor Appian will provide $175m in finance while South Africa’s RMB, a subsidiary of FirstRand, will supply a $170m credit commitment.
Of Appian’s finance, $50m will be in the form of a gold stream with 100% buyback rights as well as the purchase of $10m in the company. Asante has also entered into a $50m gold hedging programme as part of the RMB package, as well as a $10m environmental guarantee.
In order to improve tradeability, Asante has also applied to list on Toronto’s venture capital exchange, TSX-V. The funding package is conditional upon this listing.
“This will clear the path to achieve our goal of gold production of more than 500,000 ounces per year by 2028 at significantly lower all-in sustaining costs,” said Dave Anthony, CEO of Asante Gold. ” Our extensive land package at Bibiani and Chirano encompasses 80 kilometres of strike length on some of Ghana’s most prospective ground, with significant exploration upside remaining,” he said.
Asante bought Bibiani from Resolute Mining in 2021 for $90m.
Asante has guided to gold production of between 310,000 and 350,000 oz for the year ended January, 2026. Shares in the company have gained 40% year-to-date.
