Golden Star Resources Mining Company Prestea Underground Gold Mine
Operations at a Glance
| Operation Name | Prestea Open Pits / Prestea Underground Gold Mine |
| Parent and ownership percentage | Golden Star Resources (90%) / Government of Ghana (10%) |
| Country of operation | Ghana |
| Number of employees in 2016 | 715 |
| Number of contractors in 2016 | 1,197 |
| Commodity being mined | Gold |
| P&P Mineral Reserves | Prestea Underground: 490,000oz Prestea Open Pits / Mampon: 83,000oz |
| Average grades of P&P Mineral Reserves | Prestea Underground: 1,094Kt at 13.9 g/t Au Prestea Open Pits / Mampon: 811Kt at 3.17 g/t Au |
| M&I Mineral Resources | Prestea Underground: 792,000oz Prestea Open Pits / Mampon: 141,000oz |
| Average grades of M&I Mineral Resources | Prestea Underground: 1,570 Kt at 15.69 g/t Au Prestea Open Pits / Mampon : 1,593 Kt at 2.76 g/t Au |
| Prestea Open Pits / Mampon life of mine | <1 year |
| Prestea Underground life of mine | 5.5 years |
| Geological setting | Ribbon banded quartz vein associated with abundant free gold, pyrite and minor arsenopyrite |
| Surface mining method | Conventional open pit bench mining |
| Underground mining method | Mechanized shrinkage mining |
| Extraction method | Carbon-in-leach |
| Processing plant capacity | 1.5Mtpa |
| 2016 Production (from Prestea Open Pits only) | |
| Gold produced | 89,673oz |
| Cash operating cost | US$800/oz |
About Prestea
Prestea is in south-western Ghana, approximately 40km from the Wassa Gold Mine. Currently, production is being delivered solely from the Prestea Open Pits and the Mampon deposit, which have been in production since 2015 and 2017 respectively. Commercial production is expected to commence from the high grade Prestea Underground Gold Mine in Q3 2017.
Prestea Underground has exploration upside through the extension and definition of the West Reef ore body, with the objective of increasing the supply of high grade ore to the processing plant in the near term. Other focuses of the exploration program include initial testing of the Main Reef and South Gap areas, which have the potential to add ore to the mine plan in the medium to long term.