Modern Mining January 2019

GOLD

Asanko’s Project 5 Million meets its target and more

One of the great achievements of the Asanko Gold Mine (AGM) in Ghana since it poured its first gold in January 2016 has been the successful implementation of Project 5 Million (P5M), which has taken the mine’s nominal throughput capacity from 3 Mt/a to 5 Mt/a for a very small capex of just US$29 million. In practice, the P5M project has exceeded expectations, with the processing plant operating well above its nameplate capacity in recent months. Modern Mining’s Arthur Tassell recently spoke to Russell Bradford, Senior Vice President Metallurgy of Asanko Gold Inc, to learn more about P5M.

A lthough AGM was developed by Asanko Gold, it is now a 50:50 joint venture with Gold Fields, with Asanko remaining the op- erator and manager. The mine produced a record 61 599 ounces in Q3 2018, 59 823 ounces in Q4 and a record 223 152 ounc- es for the full year, exceeding the upper end of guidance. A multi-pit operation (with seven satellite deposits), AGM is currently mining from the main Nkran pit, as well as the Esaase,

Akwasiso and Dynamite Hill satellite pits. The performance of the mill has been exceptional in recent months. In Q3, for example, it processed 1,3 Mt of ore with recoveries of 94 %. In 2019 an investment decision is antici- pated on the full scale development of the Esaase deposit, which lies 27 km to the north of the current operations at the Obotan property. A trial mining operation at Esaase commenced in Q4 2018. The longer term plan, pending a positive investment decision in Q2 2019, is

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60 _ MODERN MINING _ January 2019