Obuasi, Ghana
Obuasi, an underground operation mining to a depth of 1,500m, is located in the Ashanti region, approximately 60km south of Kumasi.
Ownership
100%
AngloGold Ashanti
Workforce
including contractors
Mineral Resource
of gold
Gold production
2019: 2Koz
All-in sustaining costs
2019: N/A
Contribution to group production
4%
Obuasi is an underground operation with the main accesses into the mine consisting of shafts and a single access decline with interlevel development of between 15 and 30m. The Obuasi Deeps Decline, which is situated at the southern end of the mine, is designed to extend to a depth of about 1500m. The Obuasi Underground operation employs mostly Long Hole Open Stoping (LHOS) mining method for ore extraction.
Existing infrastructure includes a 2.4Mtpa processing plant with flotation and bacterial oxidation (BIOX), underground development, hoisting shafts and associated infrastructure, power and water reticulation, office complexes, workshops and company housing estates. Power is supplied to the mine by the Volta River Authority and GridCo.
A brief history
- Production at Obuasi started in 1897 and stopped in the last quarter of 2014. Some aspects of the mine continued under limited operational conditions, including the development of the underground decline.
- A favourable feasibility study was completed in 2017 and indicated a strong technical and economical case with an anticipated 20-year LOM
- In 2018, approval was received from the AngloGold Ashanti board to proceed with the project.
- The redevelopment project commenced in late 2018 and first gold was poured during the fourth quarter of 2019.
- Phase 1 of the redevelopment project was completed by end September 2020 and began commercial production on 1 October 2020.
- Phase 2, construction and mine development, is in progress and expected to be completed in 2021.
ESG statistics 2020
All injury frequency rate
1.44 per million hours worked
(2019: 1.38)
Community investment
$1,791m
(2019: $336m)
Reportable environmental incidents
3 (2019: N/A)
Water use
1,678ML
(2019: N/A)
Water use efficiency
2.74KL/t
(2019: N/A)
Energy consumption
1.02PJ
(2019: 0.58Pj)
Energy use intensity
1.66GJ/t
(2019: N/A)
GHG emissions
112kt
(2019: 164kt)
GHG emission intensity
183kg/t CO2e
(2019: N/A)
Cyanide use
931t
(2019: 115t)
Rehabilitation liabilities
$204.9m
(2019: 186.3m)
Related stories

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology opens an Obuasi campus
AngloGold Ashanti has helped to facilitate the development of a satellite Obuasi campus for Ghana’s renowned Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), which is headquartered in the city of Kumasi.

Integrated malaria control programme
AGA-Mal sprays over a million structures annually, protecting approximately a million people from malaria, and creates ±1,300 local temporary jobs annually

Obuasi Mine’s Closure Consultative Committee
The key purpose of the Closure Consultative Committee (CCC) is to track the implementation of the mine’s reclamation plan, ensuring that the completion criteria contained in RSA are met.