AMN - GHANA: Prestea underground development under way

Golden Star Resources has appointed Manroc Developments as the underground mining contractor for its Prestea underground gold mine in Ghana. Prestea Underground is a narrow, high grade deposit, with Mineral Reserves of 1 million tonnes at 14.02 grams/tonne gold and substantial exploration upside potential.

Golden Star has started development of the Prestea Underground ore body and Manroc was expected to mobilise its fleet to site. The development timeline for Prestea Underground remains intact and Golden Star expects to achieve commercial production at the mine in mid-2017, as planned.

Golden Star president and CEO Sam Coetzer says: "The development of Prestea Underground is progressing well and the appointment of a mining contractor is the next important step. We remain on track to bring Prestea Underground into production in mid-2017, which will be a significant milestone for Golden Star as it is expected to increase our production rate and further reduce our cash operating costs. The mine is one of the highest grade development projects in West Africa and it has a strong history, with approximately 9 Moz of gold production during the past century.

"The work to upgrade Prestea's infrastructure is continuing well and we are excited about the potential upside of the deposit's Mineral Reserves. I look forward to updating the market further on Prestea Underground's progress over the coming months as Golden Star continues on its path to become a high grade, low cost, non-refractory producer."

Golden Star is an established gold mining company that owns and operates the Wassa and Prestea mines situated on the prolific Ashanti Gold Belt in western Ghana, Africa. Golden Star is strategically focused on increasing operating margins and cash flow through the development of two high grade, low cost underground mines both in conjunction with existing open pit operations. The Wassa Underground started pre-commercial production in mid-2016 and the Prestea Underground is expected to start production in mid-2017. Both projects are fully funded and on track to begin production as expected. Production in 2016 is expected to be between 180,000 and 205,000 oz of gold with costs of $815-$925/oz.

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News courtesy of International Mining