Modern Mining February 2015

GOLD

Ghana’s newest gold mine

strategic investor in Keegan. The key investors in Highland Park – including Breese – all have a background with LionOre Mining, which was sold to Norilsk in 2007 for US$6,3 billion. LionOre’s assets included the Tati nickel mine near Francistown in Botswana. Breese was COO of LionOre while Colin Steyn – currently Asanko Gold’s Chairman – was President and CEO. Prior to founding LionOre, both Breese and Steyn worked in Zimbabwe’s mining industry. The team that Breese has deployed to develop the Asanko Gold Mine has in-depth African experience and includes Hugo Truter (among other things, he was GM of Tati Nickel for two years), Rob Sherwen-Slater (at one stage Chief Mining Engineer for JCI Projects and also Projects Director for LionOre Mining) and experienced metallurgist Ed Munnick (previ- ously COO of Chambishi Metals in Zambia and Metallurgical Executive at LionOre Mining’s Africa division). To build its new mine, Asanko Gold has appointed two South African-based companies – DRA and Knight Piesold, both with plenty of West African experience. DRA is the EPCM contractor for Phase 1 while Knight Piesold has been appointed to design the Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) and carry out detailed geotechni- cal engineering works at the site. Asanko Gold’s management has worked with both compa- nies in the past, particularly DRA. As Breese said earlier last year when the contracts were

Left: A recent view of the Asanko Gold Mine site with concrete pouring underway. Below: Earthworks in progress on the terracing for the processing plant.

African mining circles. His involvement with Asanko Gold (or Keegan Resources, as it was known till 2012) dates back to October 2012 when the Highland Park Group became a major

February 2015  MODERN MINING  21