West African pours first Kiaka gold ahead of schedule
Australia-listed West African Resources has poured first gold at its flagship Kiaka project in Burkina Faso, delivering the milestone ahead of schedule and under budget, as the company progresses toward its ambition of becoming a half-million-ounce-a-year gold producer by 2030.
The maiden pour at Kiaka yielded gold bars weighing 5.7 kg, or 183.3 troy ounces, marking the start of production just three-and-a-half years after the company acquired the project.
“First gold at Kiaka is a major milestone for West African Resources, and a key step towards our target of being a 500 000 oz/y gold producer by 2030,” said executive chairperson Richard Hyde. “First gold comes just three-and-a-half years after the acquisition of Kiaka, which is a remarkable achievement by the WAF team.”
The company said construction and commissioning activities at the project were substantially complete, with the exception of the high-voltage grid power connection. The processing plant has performed well in early operations, with metallurgical recoveries topping 92% and throughput exceeding expectations.
“With the Kiaka build complete and production ramp-up under way, WAF has realised its strategy of having two long-life, unhedged, low-cost gold production centres in operation in 2025,” Hyde said.
The ramp-up to nameplate capacity is expected to continue through the third quarter. So far, 140 000 t of ore grading 0.7 g/t gold have been processed.
Openpit mining activities are advancing at both Kiaka Main and Kiaka South, with ore stockpiles continuing to build on the run-of-mine pad as mining crews operate double shifts.
West African Resources acknowledged the contributions of its in-house construction team, contractors, consultants, and lenders – Sprott and Coris Bank – for their roles in bringing the project into production.
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