ACCRA (Reuters) -Ghana and Gold Fields have reached an agreement on a transitional plan for Damang mine, the West African country’s presidency said on Wednesday.
Last week, Ghana assumed operational control of the mine after it rejected an application from the South African company to renew its lease, breaking a tradition of automatically renewing licenses.
The presidency said in a statement that a new 12-month mining lease will be issued to a Gold Fields’ subsidiary pending parliamentary ratification in May.
During the transition period, Gold Fields will resume open-pit mining and conduct feasibility studies to establish Damang’s reserves and mine life, the presidency said in a statement.
Damang is the smaller of Gold Fields’ two operations in Ghana, Africa’s leading gold producer.
Representatives from Ghana’s government and the company will continue to supervise the processing of existing stockpiles, the presidency added.
“This is far from ideal, but we take it like that,” said a source in the company, who was not authorized to speak on the matter.
“They gave us assurance that this won’t be a trend and it won’t affect Tarkwa Mine’s lease, and we are advised to apply even now so that Gold Fields can have certainty,” the source added.
Both parties also agreed to advance discussions on the renewal of the lease for the Tarkwa mine, due in 2027.
The source said Gold Fields’ management was more concerned about Tarkwa’s lease because of its higher volumes.
(Reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila and Anait MiridzhanianEditing by Bate Felix)
