By: Creamer media

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.