The refining and smelting of gold to produce bullion bars at Gold Fields. Its application for a lease extension at Damang Mine in Ghana has been rejected by the Ghana government.
Image: Supplied
Gold Fields’ share price fell 6.3% on the JSE Monday after it said that the Ghanaian government had instructed it to cease operations and vacate the Damang Mine lease area by April 18, 2025, on expiry of the lease.
The share price was trading at R444.81 on the JSE late Monday. The decline was in spite of a strong 4.11% rise in the gold price to $3 208.71 per ounce, at the same time. A year before, Gold Fields traded at R342.47.
Gold Fields said it had, in December 2023, through an indirect subsidiary, Abosso Goldfields, applied for an extension of the Damang Main Mining Lease, but the company was notified by the Minerals Commission of Ghana that the application was rejected.
Gold Fields said it had engaged extensively with the relevant authorities since receiving the rejection notice, to confirm that its Lease Extension Application had fulfilled all the statutory requirements for such extension.
“The company continues to seek ongoing engagement with the government to secure the best outcome for all stakeholders. These developments at Damang do not affect operations at Tarkwa, which remain ongoing,” Gold Fields’ directors said in a notice to the JSE’s news service.
Damang Mine, which Gold Fields had been operating since 2002, was part of Gold Fields’ West African operations, which collectively accounted for a substantial portion of the group’s gold production. However, mining activities ceased in 2023 due to the depletion of the Huni pits, and since then the mine had been processing stockpiles.
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