Page 65 - pd307-Aug22-mag-web-Neat

position on the global stage,” he said. “There
are some exciting stories in the country and
the Government wants more investment. I
think our discovery is important because it
shows there are still discoveries to be made
in mature jurisdictions.”
Atlantic’s place in the new guard of junior
developers in Ghana is particularly impor-
tant given its focus on lithium rather than
gold.
The company is moving towards release
of a PFS for its Ewoyaa lithium project near
Accra, having produced a positive scoping
study in December. Alongside Leo Lithium
Ltd’s Goulamina project in Mali, Ewoyaa is
poised to herald a new industry for West Af-
rica – battery minerals production.
“Lithium is definitely the buzz word in
Ghana but there is the drawback of it being Ghana’s high levels of education and large
labelled ‘white gold’ which means some ex- “Our point-of-view was that it was a skilled workforce are the envy of many
pectations need to be tempered,” Kolff said. great opportunity to take as we bought it African mining jurisdictions
“But the Government wants to demonstrate for $US23 million and there is probably 5
it is open for business and not just in gold. moz gold in a region which is very under- A 20-year career in Africa has led Kolff
So, we are receiving a lot of support from explored.” to rank community engagement as among
government to showcase this project.” Since taking on Azumah, Ibaera has re- the highest priorities of any project. Ewoyaa
Ghana’s stability is also proving attractive drawn the feasibility study for Black Volta is on the outskirts of the Ghanaian capital
to backers of Ibaera Capital. The private and is now preparing to begin development Accra, making the potential social impact
fund acquired 100% of the Black Volta gold in earnest. Like Kolff, Wallbank is full of substantial, if Atlantic gets things right.
project in March 2020 following its takeover praise for the support provided by govern- “For any project, community is always
of ASX-listed Azumah Resources. ment. one of the biggest risks and I see commu-
The company has since completed a “It is a very open-door relationship with nity and social performance as one of the
feasibility study on the project and tapped government, and they are very construc- most important things,” Kolff said. “We have
investors for funds to take the project to tive about helping,” he said. “They realise said to ourselves, ‘let’s employ the whole
development. Ibaera managing partner they only make money once we have built team out of Ghana’, so we can show sup-
James Wallbank said Ghana’s predictability the mine and the royalties and taxes start port to the community. We have one expat
was a key attraction for the group. to flow. on site and 75% of the workforce comes
“When you have long-term funding se- “In Africa, you are dealing much more di- from the local community. There are not
cured, it does draw you to jurisdictions that rectly with the Minister and the head of the many operations in the world which can say
are going to be robust for the long term,” he Minerals Commission, so you get a lot more that.
said. “If you focus on the fact that it will take impact from meeting with the Minister and “It has extremely low environmental im-
6-7 years to build a mine, you’d think about department heads. pact and because it is essentially a dense
places that are stable, predictable and “When the new minister came in, he media separation project, it will be a lower
consistent so we have to be more selec- brought a lot of energy. He is a young law- power consumer. We have grid power adja-
tive about where we invest. It is impossible yer with a definite mandate and desire to cent, largely hydro and a 20MW solar plant
to predict the political situation in Burkina make changes and take a positive view on 30km away, so green energy is going to be
Faso or Cote d’Ivoire in 10 years, the out- investment in the sector. a big tick with investors as well.”
look is much clearer for Ghana. “The amount of support we are getting is While once a drawback, the benefits of
“There has been mining there for more remarkable and reading between the lines, Ghana’s mature system – from regulation,
than 100 years and it is a bit like investing in the Minister is specifically pushing our pro- to services, to experienced workers – are
Australia. The projects may be a bit more ject and others.” once again being viewed as a benefit.
marginal but the country is lower risk so you Support extends to the community level “Ghana as a country has not been flavour
will get, ultimately, higher rewards.” where both Atlantic and Ibaera are finding of the month in West Africa for a long time
Ibaera’s entry into Ghana is an example positive engagement in areas not tradition- but it is reliable, predictable,” Wallbank said.
of the Australian market’s apathy towards ally seen as mining communities in Ghana. “In comparison to some other jurisdictions
the country. While explorers in Burkina Black Volta is in the remote north of the in West Africa, it is probably not as exciting
Faso, Mali, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire found country, and will represent one of the larg- to segments of the retail market which want
strong investor support, Azumah struggled est investments and therefore employment a bit more speculation and opportunity but it
to raise its profile. opportunities ever seen in the region. doesn’t have coups, the politics are predict-
“Azumah wasn’t getting love from the “We’re trying to do the right thing by the able and society is stable.”
market, it had switched off,” Wallbank ex- community, using renewables and minimis- Given those are attributes Western Aus-
plained. “It had got to a 600,000oz reserve ing the carbon footprint, contributing to lo- tralia – the world’s most respected mining
and hit a bad market from 2013 through cal agriculture and supporting community jurisdiction – often touts, it appears Ghana
2017. They couldn’t raise enough to get an- growth,” Wallbank said. “Everyone has de- is back on the right track.
ywhere, but you could clearly see a couple veloped a level of trust that we are all in it
of million ounces there. together.” – Dominic Piper

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 65