The Ghana Environmental Protection Agency in May approved the supplementary environmental impact statement for West African gold producer Perseus Mining’s Edikan gold mine, in Ghana.
The approval allows Perseus to extend its mining operations to include mining of the Fetish, Bokitsi and Chirawewa gold deposits, collectively referred to as the ‘Eastern Pits’ as well as the Esuajah North gold deposits.
Clearing work and preliminary waste stripping activities in the Eastern Pits area will now start and significant quantities of ore will be mined from the September quarter onwards.
“We are very pleased to have received the necessary environmental approvals needed to start activities in the Eastern Pits area of our mining lease at Edikan and our site team is now looking forward to working with our contractors to ensure that we can deliver the outcomes forecast in our recently updated life-of-mine plan,” Perseus MD Jeff Quartermaine says in a statement.
Community members whose farms and dwellings will be impacted on by mining activities in the Eastern Pits area have been fully compensated and relocated to rented accommodation while alternative houses are being constructed.
Planning of the relocation dwellings has been completed and construction work, which was delayed pending the receipt of mining approvals, can now start.
Perseus has been mining and producing about 200 000 oz/y of gold from the Abnabna and Fobinso openpits on the western side of its Edikan mining lease since operations began in late 2011.
Having also recently implemented measures to ensure continuous access to power at the Edikan gold mine, Perseus is now experiencing excellent operational performance at the mine and is confident that it will comfortably achieve the previously published production of between 200 000 oz/y and 210 000 oz/y and cost guidance of between $1 075/oz and $1 125/oz for the 2015 financial year, Quartermaine concludes.