THE approval of AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi project was a promising indication of the Ghanaian government’s willingness to promote foreign mining investment, said Emma Priestley, CEO of Goldstone Resources, a UK-listed firm developing the Akrokeri-Homase Gold Project (AKHM) in the West African country.
On June 23, AngloGold Ashanti announced the Ghanaian government had ratified certain regulations and fiscal agreements covering Obuasi’s $500m redevelopment which the company had placed in mothballs in several years earlier. Priestley said the development was encouraging for her firm’s own project.
“I am currently in Ghana and there is significant interest in the development of mining opportunities,” said Priestley in a statement.
“With the news of the Obuasi Mine getting governmental support and AngloGold committing over $500m funds, we are highly encouraged by the local and national operational environment of our AKHM Project as we seek to progress towards production within two years,” she said.
AKHM consists of two previously mined properties: the high-grade Akrokeri underground mine and the Homase open pit which once produced about 125,000 ounces of gold annually when last in production. Goldstone Resources wants to restart the operations.
