Page 7 - Apmor 2018

news in brief

mining At the company’s Akwasiso satellite deposit, mining operations
delivered approximately 20,000tpm of oxide ore.
Site establishment at Dynamite Hill started during the third quarter
in preparation of ore mining operations in the fourth quarter.
Guinea The company received some production setbacks in the third
quarter due to the failure of three mill motors, which affected a
total of 11 days of lost milling time.
China loans Guinea $20B to secure Asanko Gold president and CEO Peter Breese said “Overall, our
aluminium ore quarterly production performance for Q3 was very encouraging,
with positive results in a number of key areas: reconciliations
China agreed to loan Guinea $20 billion over almost 20 years in
exchange for concessions on bauxite, an ore of aluminium which confirming the Nkran resource model, management of ore losses
and dilution and the plant achieving milling rates in excess of
the West African country has in abundance, the mines minister 13,500t on a per day campaign basis.
said.
Although July and August production were impacted by the three
The projects guaranteed by the loan included China Power
Investment Corp’s (CPI) planned alumina refinery and Aluminium mill motor outages, which equated to in excess of 5,000oz of lost
Corp of China’s (Chalco) bauxite mine and another bauxite project gold production, the quarter still produced a very respectable
by China Henan International Cooperation Group, all of them in 49,293oz.
the northwestern town of Boffa.
“Those are the three projects targeted as priorities for the first oil
phase,” Mines Minister Abdoulaye Magassouba told Reuters. “The
revenues these projects generate will serve as reimbursement for
the loans.”
The minister said the money would be spent on badly needed
infrastructure – Guinea is one of the world’s least developed Nigeria
countries – a roads-for-minerals formula that China often uses to
gain access to Africa’s resources. Buhari Signs University of Petroleum
Projects earmarked included roads in the capital Guinea and Resources Bill
highways upcountry, a project for extending the port of Conakry, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed the
an electric transmission line and the building of a university, University of Petroleum Resources Bill with a pledge to continue
Magassouba said. to support the socio-economic development of the Niger Delta
Guinea, Africa’s leading bauxite producer, holds some of the world’s region.
richest bauxite and iron ore deposits, including the Simandou iron The President made the pledge while signing the bill to establish
ore deposit, in its remote east, which is mired in legal disputes but University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta into law at the
has nevertheless attracted intense interest from China. Presidential Villa in Abuja.
He said Federal Government was committed to supporting Niger
Ghana Delta region to achieve socio-economic development.
Buhari, consequently appealed to communities in the region to
strive for peace through dialogue in resolving all conflicts not only
Asanko Gold releases third quarter among them but also with business entities and authorities.
production results
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that with the signing
Asanko Gold released its third quarter production results for its of the bill into law, the path has now been cleared for the
mine in Ghana. establishment of the specialised university in the Niger Delta.
The results show that quarterly gold production was 49,293oz with The institution will be charged with training and research in
gold sales of 50,241oz and generated revenue of $63.6m, which petroleum technologies.
is reported to be on track to meet this year’s revised production
guidance of 205,000oz-225,000oz.
The company noted that with the deployment of blast monitoring
technology at Nkran production site, it was able to minimise ore
losses and dilution.

AFRICAN POWER Mining & Oil Review Vol 21, Issue 20, 2017 | 7