Newmont to advance $850m Ghana gold project

Bullion major Newmont on Thursday announced the approval of a new $750-million to $850-million gold project in Ghana, which would create about 1 800 jobs at the peak of construction and more than 550 permanent roles.

The Ahafo North project, which the company sees as the “best unmined gold deposit”, would add more than three-million ounces of gold production over an initial 13-year mine life.

“The development of this prolific ore body will leverage our proven operating model and will be supported by our existing world-class Ahafo South operation,” Newmont president and CEO Tom Palmer commented in a statement.

Located about 30 km from the existing Ahafo South operations, Ahafo North would include four openpit mines and a standalone mill. It would produce an average of 275 000 oz to 325 000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost of $600/oz to $700/oz for the first five years.

Newmont stated that the project exceeded its required internal rate of return, which at current prices were expected to be more than 30%.