South Africa-headquartered AngloGold Ashanti has achieved its first gold pour at the Obuasi mine – five years after mining activities were suspended in 2014.

The redevelopment project, which seeks to access Obuasi’s 30-million-ounce ore body over the next two decades and beyond, has completed the first phase of construction on time and on budget, the gold major, led by Kelvin Dushnisky, announced on Thursday.

Following a ramp-up period, will target a mining rate of 2 000 t/d at Obuasi during 2020, climbing to 4 000 t/d by year-end.

The mine will be producing gold at an average run-rate of 350 000 oz/y to 400 000 oz/y for the first ten years, and above 400 000 oz/y over the life of mine at all-in sustaining costs of about $800/oz.

“The difficult decision was made to suspend production in 2014 to rebuild the mine’s foundation for a sustainable long-term future that will bring benefit to the region over the coming decades. We are tremendously proud of what has been achieved since then,” said AngloGold executive VP of group planning and technical Graham Ehm, who is overseeing the project.

The underground mine development is ongoing, with deepening of the Obuasi deeps decline and access to the KRS shaft on schedule for mid-2020. The construction of new plant and infrastructure will continue in 2020.

The initial project capital for Obuasi remains in the range of $495-million to $545-million, spent between 2018 to the end of 2020.

Further, AngloGold Ashanti said it was working closely with government and community stakeholders to ensure that the Obuasi mine was developed sustainably, fuelling growth for Ghana and benefitting the communities around the mine.

A committee, including local stakeholders and regulators, has been created to track execution of the reclamation of the mine site and the mine will also be contributing $2/oz of gold produced to a Community Trust Fund, over its life, to facilitate development projects in the local area.

The project has placed a premium on local content, with 80% of the capital thus far spent in-country.