Fast-track development of Bibiani mine

Canada-based miner Asante Gold has unveiled the leadership team tasked with expanding the resources and fast-tracking the development of the Bibiani mine to production.

The company this week announced that it would buy Bibiani, in Ghana, from Australia’s Resolute, for $90 million.

The mine has essentially been on care and maintenance since Ashanti Goldfields exited the project in 2006. Asante has committed to restarting operations “within the next year”.

The new management team includes Canadian Dave Anthony as COO.

He has more than 40 years of experience, including ten years in Africa, where he worked as the COO of African Barrick Gold.

South African Eben Swanepoel is the project director. Swanepoel has 43 years of mining experience and has worked on many mines in Africa, of which the latest was the Galiano Gold – Goldfields Nkran mine in Ghana.

Geologist and Ghana resident Dean Bertram, who has held the MD position of Mensin Gold Bibiani for the past two years and served on the boards of Resolute’s Ghanaian and Ivorian subsidiaries, is executive GM.

Paul Abbott is the geology manager.

The Ghana resident has more than 50 years of international exploration and mining experience, including 30 years in West Africa. Abbott is credited with numerous gold discoveries, most recently the seven-million-ounce Namdini gold deposit being developed by Cardinal Resources in northern Ghana.

Bibiani’s previous owner Resolute estimated in a 2018 restart study that the mine would produce about 100 000 oz/y and would require a capital investment of $115-million.