Mining News
GoldStone pours first commercial ounces at Ghana's newest gold mine
(Kitco News) - GoldStone Resources (AIM: GRL) announced Tuesday that it has now successfully completed its first commercial gold pour at the Homase mine in the Ashanti Gold Belt in Ghana.
The company said that the first pour was completed during the commissioning of the Smelt House this week, which followed the commissioning of the Elution Plant announced on 1 November 2021. The company's first smelt and gold pour produced gold bars weighing, in aggregate, 14.46kg (approximately 464.90 troy ounces).
In the context of COVID-19 related restrictions, and if conditions permit, the company said it will be hosting an on-site inauguration ceremony of Ghana's newest gold mine with Ghanaian Government authorities early next year.
CEO Emma Priestley commented, "Now that we have managed to successfully complete the transition into a gold producer, we will focus our efforts on ramping up the project to full operations as efficiently as possible, by continuing ramp-up of stacking to the Heap Leach and optimisation of the processing plant."
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GoldStone is focused on developing the Akrokeri-Homase project in south-western Ghana, which hosts a JORC Code compliant 602,000 oz gold resource at an average grade of 1.77 g/t.
The project hosts two former mines, the Akrokerri Ashanti Mine Ltd, which produced 75,000 oz gold at 24 g/t recovered grade in the early 1900s, and the Homase Pit which AngloGold Ashanti developed in 2002/03 producing 52,000 oz gold at 2.5 g/t recovered.
The company indicated its intention to build a portfolio of high-quality gold projects in Ghana, with a particular focus on the highly prospective Ashanti Gold Belt.