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coVeR

Done by the forces

of nature

ood timing is usually a crucial ingredient for any mining success
G story but in West African Resources Ltd’s case, serendipity has
been notable by its absence.

ince its inception in 2010, the com- WAF arrived on the ASX in June 2010 on the Boulsa gold project and Sartenga
Spany has been hampered by a global at the height of the Australian market’s copper prospect in Burkina Faso.
gold sector crash, shifting investor senti- obsession with West African gold sto- “I had been working for RSG Global,
ment towards exploration as well as se- ries. Current executive chairman Richard doing lots of independent geologist re-
curity and public health issues in Burkina Hyde was the brainchild, putting together ports and valuations in that 2006-07 pe-
Faso. a team and portfolio based on the exten- riod when the market was red hot. I just
However, those obstacles have not sive knowledge he had gained running thought to myself: ‘I could do this’,” Hyde
prevented West African (WAF) elevating RSG Global’s (the forerunner of Coffey explained to Paydirt recently.
itself from greenfields junior to estab- International) West African geological “I looked in northern Ghana but could
lished producer in less than a decade. consulting business. only get bits and pieces of ground – noth-
Now, with a high-grade, high-margin West Africa was the hottest gold explo- ing of scale. I began looking at the geo-
mine at Sanbrado set to pump out more ration region in the world at the time and physics and old survey maps of Burkina
than 300,000oz in 2021, and the West ASX-listed juniors such as Ampella Min- Faso and despite the perception that all
African M&A rumour mill turning again, ing, Gryphon Minerals and Adamus Re- the deposits of size were in Ghana and
WAF may finally be on the right side of sources were catching fire. It was more Mali, it looked very promising.”
history. of a low-key start for WAF with the focus The company enjoyed some modest

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