Asante Gold completes sulphide plant construction at Bibiani mine in Ghana

Asante Gold (TSXV:ASE) on Monday reported  construction and commissioning are complete at its sulphide plant at the Bibiani gold mine in the republic of Ghana.
 
Asante has been ramping up activity at the Bibiani throughout the year, funded by the initial $100 million deposit from Fujairah Holdings, Asante’s second-largest shareholder, as part of a $500 million gold forward sale deal signed in December 2024.

The company said on Monday that 12 hour per day operations to process Bibiani ore started on September 27 and that 24 hour per days operations are expected to start on September 30. Optimization to achieve +85% gold recovery will progress through October, it said, adding that an increase from 60% to 92% is expected to be reached in late October. 

The project’s nameplate capacity is estimated at 4 million tonnes per year. Aerial drone footage of the plant can be viewed here. 

“This is a year of executing our strategic plan to allocate significant capital to our mining and processing operations at both Bibiani and Chirano.  With the finances now in hand, we expect to grow long-term gold production to 450,000 to 500,000 ounces of gold per year,” CEO Dave Anthony said in a news release. 

“With construction and commissioning of the Bibiani sulphide treatment plant complete, we are focused on the next phase, which moves the plant into operation, ramp-up, testing and optimization to achieve 92% recovery and enhance Bibiani’s growth profile.”

Asante’s Toronto listed shares closed the day up 2.84%. The company has a $C1.75 billion ($1.26bn) market capitalization.