JOHANNESBURG, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Australian gold miner Resolute Mining RSG.AX has agreed to sell its Bibiani underground gold mine project in Ghana to China's Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining Co Ltd 600988.SS for $105 million, the companies said in a joint statement.
Resolute said Chifeng would pay a $5 million deposit on signing the agreement, and $100 million on completion, expected by March 2021 following government approval.
"Chifeng will immediately invest the required capital, and provide the necessary expertise, to recommission Bibiani as an operating gold mine in the shortest possible timeframe," Chifeng's Executive Chairman Wang Jianhua said in the statement released on the Australia Stock Exchange.
Resolute's interim CEO Stuart Gale said the sale is consistent with the company's focus on core operating assets and balance sheet improvement.
Resolute previously said it expects Bibiani, once developed, to produce 100,000 ounces of gold a year over a 10-year life of mine.