VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – West Africa-focused gold producer Asanko Gold has reported a cash flow positive quarter for the three months ended June 30 – the first quarter of commercial production at its flagship eponymous mine, in Ghana.
The Vancouver-based company reported Monday that mining operations were continuing exclusively in the Nkran pit, where bulk mining of the periphery of the main orezones was undertaken to open up access to the main orebody by the end of the second quarter.
During the period, the processing plant processed 702 318 t of ore at an average grade of 1.69 g/t gold, with an average gold recovery of 92% that resulted in gold production of 36 337 oz.
The company sold 35 074 oz of gold at an average realised gold price of $1 231/oz for total gold revenue of $43.2-million. Second-quarter all-in-sustaining costs totalled $1 280/oz, of which $346/oz related to deferred stripping costs.
“Whilst costs per ounce of gold produced were high, this was expected as the mine was still ramping up to steady-state levels. Importantly, the mining and processing unit costs are in line with our feasibility estimates and are expected to improve. With a substantial increase in gold production expected during the second half of the year, we expect costs to decrease towards our life-of-mine forecasts,” stated president and CEO Peter Breese.
The operations generated positive cash flow during the quarter, with cash flow from operations of $11.6-million before changes in noncash working capital.
Asanko expects to produce between 90 000 oz and 100 000 oz of gold during the second half of 2016.