Golden Star is a mid-tier gold mining company over a quarter-century in age and total historical production of over two million ounces of gold. The Company has two operating mines situated along the prolific Ashanti Gold Belt in Ghana, West Africa. Our growth strategy is the result of our exploration and expansion activities at both Bogoso/Prestea and Wassa/HBB. The Bogoso/Prestea mine has the ability to process both non-refractory and refractory ores. The Wassa plant processes ore from the Wassa pits in addition to high grade ore from the HBB satellite mines. In addition to operational growth, the Company has consistently grown through exploration and corporate development activities. Lastly, Golden Star has a long-term commitment to sustainability with particular emphasis on health, education and the environment.
The Bogoso/Prestea mining complex consists of several open pit operations along thirty kilometers of the Ashanti Trend feeding both refractory and non-refractory ores to the two processing plants. The oxide plant is a conventional carbon-in-leach (“CIL”) operation and can process up to 1.5 million tonnes per year of ore. The 2.7 million tonne per year sulfide plant at Bogoso processes our extensive refractory ore inventory and utilizes bio-oxidation to oxidize the sulphides, followed by a CIL circuit to extract the gold. The Bogoso/Prestea mine produced 170,973 ounces of gold in 2010 and estimated 2011 production is approximately 150,000 to 160,000 ounces.
The Wassa mine is an open pit operation utilizing a conventional CIL processing plant. Ore is sourced from the nearby Wassa pits and the satellite pits at Benso and Hwini-Butre. Gold production totaled 183,931 ounces in 2010 and is anticipated to be 170,000 to 180,000 ounces of gold in 2011.
Over its 25-plus year history, Golden Star has maintained an aggressive exploration program. Year over year, our exploration budget has ranged between $10 and $20 million per year. The exploration expenditures for 2011 are expected to total $20 million. While the majority of our exploration activities are proximal to our operations in Ghana, we have a property portfolio that includes projects in Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Niger in West Africa and Brazil in South America.
Golden Star’s goal is to grow its business in Ghana, other selected countries in West Africa through organic growth and accretive acquisitions. The Company is well financed and has a strong, experienced and operationally focused management team. Production in 2010 totaled 354,904 ounces of gold from these two mines.
