Modern Mining February 2015

GOLD

Dewatering of the Nkran pit commenced in December 2014 and is expected to take up to ten months to complete.

of mine is expected to be 4,7:1 (waste to ore). Nkran will be the source of 80 % of the ore with the balance coming from four satellite deposits. The mining contract for the pre-stripping of the Nkran pit and the first year of opera- tions was awarded in November 2014 to PW Ghana Ltd (PW), a subsidiary of PW Mining International Ltd of Accra, Ghana. PW mobil- ised to site during November and December 2014 and has commenced the first stages of pre-stripping. The process by which PW Ghana was selected was very rigorous and began in May last year when Asanko invited 19 mining contractors to tender. This led to a short-list of seven being compiled. The short-listed com- panies were invited to submit more detailed tenders in July last year, with four of these ten- ders then being selected for detailed technical and commercial review. Dewatering of the Nkran pit – which was previously mined and closed in 2002 due to the then low gold price – began in the December 2014 quarter and is expected to take up to ten months to complete. As at the end of the December, the water level in the pit had already reduced by approximately 2 m. The dewater- ing will continue throughout the year and will occur in parallel with the pre-stripping opera- tion and is proceeding on schedule. In terms of the staffing of the new mine, Asanko Gold promoted Charles Amoah to

General Manager – Asanko Gold Mine in December 2014 following the resignation of Jonathan Ebo Collins. Amoah was previ- ously Manager – Processing. He is a Ghanaian national and a metallurgist with over 22 years of experience. He has held a number of senior management positions in the Ghanaian gold mining industry, including General Manager of PMI Gold Corporation’s Obotan project, as well as Acting GM and Metallurgical Manager of the Damang mine, which is 90 % owned by Gold Fields. He holds a Certificate in Management Development and a Masters degree in mineral processing. Asanko has now filled the majority of the key operating positions at the Asanko Gold Mine in readiness for the commencement of ore mining operations and plant commission- ing later this year. Photos courtesy of Asanko Gold Inc

Workers assembled for a safety briefing. As of mid-January, there had been no lost time accidents on site with 231 days of construction activity and 348 330 man-hours completed on the project.

February 2015  MODERN MINING  23