AngloGold Suspends Operations at Iduapriem

AngloGold Ashanti temporarily suspended operations at its Iduapriem mine in Ghana in February 2010 following discussions with the Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana (EPA) regarding potentially adverse environmental impacts arising from the mine’s current tailings storage facility. Operations were to remain suspended until alternative arrangements for tailings storage can be established. An interim location for tailings storage has been identified, and AngloGold Ashanti was working with the EPA to make it operational.

Iduapriem is located in southwest Ghana, 70 km north of the coastal city of Takoradi and 10 km southwest of Tarkwa. In 2009, the mine produced 190,000 oz of gold and accounted for about 4% of AngloGold Ashanti’s total global production.

Development of a new tailings storage facility and a water treatment plant is being accelerated, with commissioning targeted for the latter part of 2010 or early 2011. Rescheduling is under way to define the production impact of the temporary shutdown, but AngloGold Ashanti anticipates that a revised plan can be developed to enable a significant portion of the lost production to be recovered over the course of 2010.

As featured in Womp 2010 Vol 02 - www.womp-int.com