Step aside Canada, Australia and South Africa: West Africa is fast becoming the hottest ticket in gold mining.
Producers and prospectors are pouring money into the region as prices rally and the industry at the southern tip of the continent keeps shrinking. While gold miners face a dearth of new discoveries globally, large parts of West Africa have barely been explored. The deposits tend to be shallow — meaning easy access — and relatively low-cost.
At least two new projects started up this year and a further two are scheduled for 2020. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. is also expanding and modernizing its Obuasi mine in Ghana and Canada’s Iamgold Corp. is considering a new operation in Senegal. In July, Resolute Mining Ltd. agreed to buy another West Africa-focused producer.
At the center of the action are the Birimian belts, tracts of ancient, gold-rich volcanic rock that stretch from the fringes of the Sahara to the Atlantic coast. While West Africa has a long tradition of gold mining — Ghana was known as the Gold Coast under British colonial rule — the vastness of the region and political insecurity in some areas mean its riches remain mostly untapped.
“West Africa is brimming with potential,” said Kelvin Dushnisky, the chief executive officer of the world’s No. 3 gold producer AngloGold. “Our Obuasi mine is a spectacular orebody that will be a significant production engine for Ghana and AngloGold for many years to come.”
For the rest of this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-23/gold-s-rally-is-driving-a-rush-to-one-of-metal-s-final-frontiers