Sandvik partners with AngloGold Ashanti for Obuasi fleet in Ghana
AngloGold Ashanti, one of Africa’s largest gold producers, has selected Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions to supply a fleet of 27 trucks, loaders and underground drills for its Obuasi mine in Ghana.
The contract includes five Sandvik DD421 development drills, five Toro™ LH517i loaders, four Toro™ LH410 loaders, four Toro™ TH663i trucks, three Toro™ LH621i loaders, two Toro™ TH430 trucks, two Sandvik DS421 cable bolters and two Sandvik DD321 development drills. Delivery is scheduled to begin in March 2023 and continue through 2024.
The Obuasi gold mine in Ghana’s Ashanti region operated from 1897 until AngloGold Ashanti suspended production in 2014 due to weak gold prices. A 2017 feasibility study indicated remaining gold resources that could sustain a 20-year underground mine, and AngloGold Ashanti began a redevelopment project in late 2018. The company is now developing the infrastructure needed to support a planned production ramp-up to a steady state by the end of 2023.
“This is a world-class orebody that continues to have huge potential after more than a century of mining,” said Eric Asubonteng, Managing Director of the Obuasi mine. “Our focus remains to turn this world-class orebody into a world-class mine. We were fairly manual in how we mined until 2014, but now we’re becoming fully mechanized and that is key in sustaining our productivity moving forward. By continuing with the introduction of a fleet of modern underground equipment equipped with the latest technologies, we have an even brighter future ahead of us.”
Obuasi production is expected to average 350,000 to 400,000 gold ounces annually for the next 10 years before ramping up to 400,000 to 450,000 ounces a year for the following decade.
“Our partnership with AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi mine dates back to Sandvik’s early years in West Africa, with Sandvik embedded and operated from the mine until 2014 when we built our own site in Kumasi,” said Nuhu Salifu, Vice President for Sandvik Sales Area West Africa. “We are excited to continue our partnership and look forward to more collaboration in the future.”
Kumasi, Ghana, March 22, 2023
For more information, please contact:
George Antwi
Business Line Manager
Load and Haul and Underground Drills
Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions
Email: george.antwi@sandvik.com
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Sandvik Group
Sandvik is a global, high-tech engineering group providing solutions that enhance productivity, profitability and sustainability for the manufacturing, mining and infrastructure industries. We are at the forefront of digitalization and focus on optimizing our customers’ processes. Our world-leading offering includes equipment, tools, services and digital solutions for machining, mining, rock excavation and rock processing. In 2022 the Group had approximately 40,000 employees and revenues of about 112 billion SEK in about 150 countries within continuing operations.
Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions
Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions is a business area within the Sandvik Group and a global leading supplier of equipment and tools, parts, service, digital solutions and sustainability-driving technologies for the mining and construction industries. Application areas include rock drilling, rock cutting, loading and hauling, tunneling and quarrying. In 2022, sales were approximately 57 billion SEK with about 16,200 employees.