(Kitco News) Galiano Gold is lining up a turning point at its Asanko mine in Ghana. Higher-grade ore and the end of its hedge are set to lift output and cash flow in 2027.
“We are expecting a stronger second half of the year this year,” CEO Matt Badylak told Kitco Mining on Sept. 29 at the 2026 Mining Forum Americas in Colorado Springs. Asanko, in which Galiano holds a 90% interest, produced 69,138 ounces in the first half and is guiding to 140,000 to 160,000 ounces for 2026. It has averaged about 190,000 ounces a year since starting in 2016, and Badylak expects to return to that level in 2027.
He described the mine as “a hub-and-spoke operation,” in which seven deposits holding a roughly 2-million-ounce reserve feed one central plant. Grade into the mill shifts as mining moves between pits. This year’s low point is passing as the Abore deposit begins delivering higher-grade ore late in 2026 and into 2027.
The hedge book changes the cash picture more. “Basically 60,000 ounces was hedged at a ceiling of about $3,000 gold,” Badylak said. It expires in December. From January, “all of that production is then free of the hedge, so it’s being sold at market gold prices, and that really does drive up our cash flow.” The company has said its final deferred acquisition payment to Gold Fields is also due in December.
Unit costs should fall as production rises. Galiano raised its 2026 all-in sustaining cost guidance to US$2,300 to US$2,600 an ounce, from US$2,000 to US$2,300, after Ghana amended its royalty framework. At 190,000 to 200,000 ounces a year, Badylak said, Asanko is roughly a US$2,000-an-ounce producer, and in 2027 “our all-in sustaining cash costs will drop down to the low 2,000s.”
He was firm that higher fuel prices will not derail this year. “Our guidance for this year is certainly achievable and there’s no risk of us missing that guidance in terms of both production and costs,” Badylak said. Diesel in Ghana now costs about US$1.90 to US$2 a liter, up from about US$1.20 before the Iran conflict, but “we don’t think it’s a material impact to our overall all-in sustaining cash costs.” Supply is not a worry either. Galiano’s supplier sources most of its diesel from the Netherlands and holds large storage at Ghana’s ports. “I’m certainly not concerned that we’re going to run out of supply of diesel.”
Badylak called Ghana a strong jurisdiction with skilled workers and a robust mining code. Beyond the royalty change, the government has proposed that miners sell 20% of their gold domestically, with a refining fee of about 0.5%. Badylak said that share “basically covers our in-country requirements for cedis,” Ghana’s currency. “So at those levels, it kind of works for us at this point in time.”
Badylak said Galiano is spending US$30 million on exploration in 2026. About 34,000 meters at the Esaase deposit targeted inferred material ahead of an updated reserve and resource in the first quarter of 2027. “We expect that Esaase will grow significantly,” he said. At Abore, drilling is testing a high-grade zone below the reserve that could support underground mining once the open pit is finished.
The biggest step comes later in the decade. Nkran, next to the plant and the highest-grade deposit in the reserve at more than 1.5 grams per tonne, is scheduled to start feeding the mill in late 2028. In the years that follow, Badylak said, “the production profile climbs well above 250,000 ounces.” On Oct. 8, Galiano secured extensions of the Abirem mining lease through 2041 and the Miradani lease through 2043. Those leases cover Nkran, the 5.8-million-tonne-per-year plant and Nkran Cut 3, a key part of the life-of-mine plan.
Further out, Badylak said “there is an intent from management and the board to grow Galiano into a mid-tier gold producer” with more than one asset. He ruled out dilutive deals at today’s valuation. “But the first thing is to get the asset right, to generate value for our shareholders, see a potential re-rate in the stock, and then use that valuation to execute M&A.”
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