Photo by: Reuters
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior gold developer Azumah Resources has been granted two mining leases for its Wa project by the Ghanaian Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.
The mining leases were for a term of 15 years and included the Kunche and Bepkong deposits, where Azumah was proposing to establish a 1.2-million-tonne-a-year gold plant, as well as the Julie deposit, some 80 km to the east.
MD Stephen Stone said on Monday that the grant of the mining leases paved the way for the company to formally start its application to the Ghana Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) for an environmental permit.
“The granting of the mining leases represents another major milestone in de-risking and advancing Azumah’s Wa gold project to development-ready status and planned production in 2016,” Stone said.
“Combined with the provision of new grid power infrastructure and the issue of water extraction licences, the grant of the mining leases underscores the Ghana government’s strong support of the project."
As part of the company’s application to the EPA, Azumah would also update its previously lodged environmental impact statement to reflect an expansion of the plant throughput from 1.2-million tonnes a year to 1.8-million tonnes, to produce around 100 000 oz of gold a year. The updated report would also reflect an increase in the overall scale of operations at the Julie deposit, given the recent exploration success there.
Azumah was currently completing a feasibility study for the WA project based on a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource of 2.2-million ounces.