Ghana’s Parliament has ratified regulatory and fiscal agreements that cover the redevelopment of AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi gold mine into a modern, productive mining operation.
The ratification, on Thursday, of the development agreement, together with the tax concession agreement, is an important step in progressing Obuasi’s redevelopment, the gold miner said on Friday.
“Obuasi is a high-grade, long-life orebody that will provide production for at least two decades at a very competitive cost, which will benefit a truly diverse set of stakeholders,” CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan said in a statement.
The environmental permitting process is also at an advanced stage, with $31-million confirmed for spending in February, for front-end engineering and other preparatory work for the mine’s redevelopment.
Obuasi is an underground mine located in the Ashanti region, in Ghana.
The mine was placed on care and maintenance after illegal miners invaded the site in 2016. The illegal miners were successfully removed by the Ghanaian military during 2017.
AngloGold is seeking to rebuild the mine into a viable, long-life mine by establishing an efficient, mechanised high-grade operation.
AngloGold in February said it would spend about $500-million to mechanise the mine.