Modern Mining May 2021

The redevelopment project will add another 20+ years to the lifetime of an iconic operation which ran for about 125 years before the suspension of operations in 2014.

Obuasi Redevelopment Project – building a future for an iconic mine

Having commenced in January 2019, construction at the Obuasi Redevelopment Project achieved 97% completion by the end of March this year. The project, AngloGold Ashanti’s Graham Ehm tells Modern Mining’s Munesu Shoko, remains on track with Phase 2 ramping up to mine 4 000 tonnes of gold ore a day by the third quarter of this year.

A s Modern Mining went to press, though, news of a fall of ground at Obuasi came through. On 21 May one miner, who works for an AngloGold Ashanti contractor, was still missing. The res- cue mission was in progress and work had stopped at the mine. It was unclear if there would be an impact on the ramp up and production. AngloGold Ashanti said it would provide an update in due course and that right now the focus was on finding the missing miner. Such events highlight the complexity of min- ing and Modern Mining’s thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of the missing miner. As part of the strategy to increase Obuasi’s over- all reserve base and the life of its mines, AngloGold Ashanti officially launched the Obuasi Redevelopment Project on January 22, 2019. Obuasi had been on care and maintenance since 2016, until the start of its redevelopment in 2019, following the receipt of the requisite approvals from the government of Ghana. The first blast took place in February 2019 with the first gold being poured in December 2019.

Graham Ehm, executive VP Group Planning and Technical at AngloGold Ashanti.

14  MODERN MINING  May 2021