It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, April 04, 2026
AG
Ghana will only let locally owned firms buy Gold Fields mine
Crushed ore stock pile at Damang Gold mine in Ghana. (Image courtesy of Gold Fields)
Ghana’s search for a new owner of a Gold Fields Ltd. mine that the government is about to take control of will be limited to locally owned companies.
Gold Fields previously considered whether to sell the Damang operation, but the government refused to renew the mine’s lease last year. Authorities then granted a 12-month extension, which required the company to ensure “the successful transition of the asset to ownership by the people of Ghana.”
The state is running a tender to select a company to take over the asset, and the deadline for offers is Tuesday. Only firms that are “100% owned by Ghanaian citizens” can participate in the process, according to a notice dated March 24 and signed by Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, minister for lands and natural resources.
Africa’s biggest gold producer is trying to increase local ownership in the industry. Major mines are currently owned by multinational firms such as AngloGold Ashanti Plc, Newmont Corp. and China’s Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. African governments from Mali to Zimbabwe are pushing for a larger share of the revenues generated by their natural resources.
Damang, which entered production almost 30 years ago, is one of two Ghanaian mines owned by Johannesburg-listed Gold Fields. Its output was 88,000 ounces of gold last year, about a third of its peak two decades ago. The company is due to transfer Damang to the government on April 18 and is also negotiating a lease extension for its larger Tarkwa operation.
Under a deal struck with the state, Gold Fields conducted a study on how to extend Damang’s life, which it has given to the government.
The eventual owner will need experience of open‑pit gold mining, the capacity to run the asset for at least another decade and access to more than $500 million in funding for project development, according to the tender document.
A view of the surrounding area where the Wharekirauponga underground mine would be built. Credit: The Waihi North project.
OceanaGold (TSX: OGC) said recent drilling at its Wharekirauponga deposit in New Zealand points to a new high-grade zone emerging outside current reserves.
Highlight hole WKP144A cut 5.4 metres grading 25.8 grams gold per tonne from a depth of 483 metres, OceanaGold said Wednesday in a statement. Another standout hole, WKP144B, cut 14.9 metres at 16.3 grams gold from about 467 metres downhole.
Wednesday’s results, which included assays from four other drill holes, “highlight strong potential for future resource growth and conversion to reserves,” Desjardins Capital Markets mining analyst Bryce Adams said in a note to clients.
Located about 10 km north of the company’s Waihi operation on New Zealand’s North Island, Wharekirauponga is a low-sulphidation epithermal gold-silver vein system that has seen significant resource growth in recent years. Ongoing drilling is focused on converting resources to reserves and expanding the mineralized footprint.
Southern extent
The latest drilling confirms both the continuity and extension of mineralization within the East Graben vein system while outlining a newly defined high-grade zone at the southern extent of the deposit, OceanaGold said. The area spans about 150 metres of strike and remains open in multiple directions.
Wharekirauponga holds 2.63 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 17.3 grams gold for contained metal of 1.46 million oz., according to a December 2025 resource. Inferred resources are pegged at 2.9 million tonnes grading 8.5 grams gold for 800,000 oz. of contained metal.
Development plans envision an underground mine that could leverage existing infrastructure at Waihi. Exact timelines will depend on permitting and further resource definition.
Three drill rigs are now operating at Wharekirauponga, and OceanaGold expects to add two more during the second quarter.
Expanding system
Exploration over the past several years has steadily expanded the system. Drilling last year extended mineralization to roughly 1.4 km of strike and identified multiple high-grade shoots along the East Graben vein and associated structures.
“With Wharekirauponga remaining open in multiple directions, we remain well positioned to drive shareholder value through continued resource growth and conversion as we increase the amount of drilling this year,” CEO Gerard Bond said in the statement.
OceanaGold rose 3.1% to C$45.23 Wednesday morning in Toronto, boosting the company’s market value past C$10 billion ($7.2 billion).
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