AngloGold Ashanti on Friday said negotiations for the consummation of the company’s joint venture project with Gold Fields in Ghana have been complex, despite significant progress and a significant update likely for the next quarter.
The company said the proposed Tarkwa/Iduapriem joint venture project in Ghana will become the biggest gold mine in Africa, with expected bullion production of about 900 000 ounces a year.
However, the project has been facing government delays, although AngloGold chief executive Alberto Calderon said he remained positive that Ghana’s Ministry of Mines and the country’s Minerals Commission would eventually give the go-ahead for the project.
“On Tarkwa, we made good progress, but it is complex (negotiations). It’s not an easy negotiation. We have made progress and there is a constructive approach from the government, the minister and the head of the Minerals Commission,” Calderon said during a conference call, after release of the company’s 2024 first-quarter production on Friday.
“We are close, but we are not there yet.”
Shares in AngloGold Ashanti rose 2.57% to R456.12 on the JSE on Friday
The company is maintaining its 2024 full-year production guidance at between 2.59 million ounces and 2.79 million ounces.
It expects production to be higher during the second half and last quarter of the current year.
“Gold production is again expected to be second half weighted, with fourth quarter gold production expected to be the strongest quarter this year,” the company said.
Calderon said the company was seeing greater consistency from most of its operations.
In Brazil, the company was registering “significantly better performance, with greater production control and stability”, while at Geita in Tanzania and Kibali in the DRC, there was strong production in the first half period under review, In addition, a ramp-up programe at the Ghanaian Obuasi mine remained on track.
During the quarter to the end of March, AngloGold Ashanti’s gold production increased by 2% to 581 000 ounces compared to the same period last year.
The company has attributed this to “higher recovered grades, partly offset by lower tons processed” during the period.
There were improvements in gold production from most of the company’s mines, with initiatives to improve performance at Cuiabá and Serra Grande bearing fruit.
Kibali and Geita also had improved mining performance of more than 10%.
However, this increase in gold production was partly offset by lower gold production at Siguiri in Guinea, where carbonaceous ore at the Bidini pit resulted in poor recoveries.
At Tropicana in Australia, where production dipped 17%, there was severe flooding induced by a tropical cyclone, which affected underground and open pit mining areas as well as access roads to the remote site.
The company expects underground tons treated and grade at Obuasi to increase in the second half of 2024, supported by additional development.
During the quarter under review, Obuasi produced 54 000 ounces of gold in line with the mine plan, with mining occurring in lower-grade areas.
“Obuasi’s underground ore tons treated averaged 91 000 tons per month for the first three months of 2024. The mine remains on track to produce an anticipated 275 000 ounces – 320 000 ounces of gold in 2024.”
BUSINESS REPORT