Mining gold in West Africa comes with many challenges, not least among them maintaining your social licence in a region prone to strife.
Asara Resources Ltd (ASX:AS1, OTC:GMRMF) is spearheading the next West African gold rush and has a simple but effective ethos – 'do no harm'.
West African gold rush
The global gold price reached an all-time high in December last year, touching US$2,135.39 per ounce, driven by a weak US dollar, and expectations the US Federal Reserve will soon begin to lower interest rates.
Global conflict in the form of Russia’s war on Ukraine and heightened conflict in the Middle East has also contributed, shoring up the gold price as investors look for safe havens to park their capital.
With South African mines faltering, Ghana became Africa’s new premier gold producer in 2019, ranked sixth in the world.
The West African country is far from the only state in the region to enjoy a recent influx of gold investment – Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Mauritania have all received high attention from gold miners in the last handful of years.
In 2021, gold companies exploring in Africa increased their expenditure significantly – Endeavour by 100%, Newmont 26%, Barrick 9%, Resolute 55% and B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) 38%.
Shallow oxide gold
Asara’s flagship Project, the Kada Project in Guinea, is well-positioned to take advantage of the new gold rush.
Shallow oxide gold in nature, the surrounding rock is soft, potentially making for extremely cost-effective free digging and milling. Gold recoveries have been noted up to 97%, indicating the mineralisation is suitable for conventional carbon in leach (CIL) processing.
The company has already established a resource of close to 1 million ounces of gold, with a mineral resource estimate covering just 11% of a 15-kilometre-long bedrock gold anomaly on the tenure.
More than 100 square kilometres of the project remains unexplored, offering a strong pipeline of potential new gold prospects.
Asara also owns the Kouri Gold Project in Burkina Faso and the Paguanta and Loreto projects in Chile, although Loreto is being explored by a partner in a joint venture, and the company intends to offload Paguanta to focus on its West African gold assets.
Seven key values
Asara Resources operates on seven key values - inclusivity, respectfulness, to do no harm, tenacity, trust, integrity and boldness.
The company focuses on employing local staff, engaging local services, improving local infrastructure and buying or hiring local products where possible.
Asara also proudly sponsors local education and sports clubs and says it uses - “practice environmental remediation and sustainable exploration techniques, ensuring the integrity of the local environment and entrusting it to future generations.”
“We are driven by values of diversity, inclusivity, trust, respect and integrity,” the company website reads.
Asara’s leadership certainly has plenty of experience in both gold mining and mining in this part of the world – its management team boasts more than a collective century of experience in a wide variety of commodities and regions, but with particular emphasis on West African gold.
Non-executive chair Brett Montgomery has served in several executive and non-executive roles in public companies in West Africa, Australia, North America, Europe and Indonesia.
Managing director Tim Strong is a geologist with experience in gold, copper, cobalt, nickel, lead and zinc, and a focus on West African shear-hosted orogenic gold.
Non-executive director Doug Jones is also a geologist with 45 years of experience in Sub-Saharan and North Africa, Australia, Europe and the Americas. He is a PhD-qualified JORC ‘competent person’ with experience ranging from project generation and grassroots exploration to resource definition and feasibility studies.
Exploration manager - West Africa Richard Zongo is another geologist with 35 years of West African expertise, including 26 years at a senior level as chief geologist and/or country manager in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Ghana and Guinea.
He has worked for several Australian companies (Asara Resources, Tribune Resources, Vital Metals) and Canadian companies (Mutual Resources, Orezone Resources, Volta Resources (now B2Gold)).
With so much experience ready at hand, the company is well-placed to pursue its strategy of fast-tracking development opportunities and expanding the mineral resource for the Kada Gold Project.