ASANKO GOLD ANNOUNCES Q3 2017 PRODUCTION RESULTS Q3 2017 Highlights: Quarterly gold production of 49,293 ounces and gold sales of 50,241 ounces, on track to meet 2017 revised production guidance of 205 – 225,000 ounces
PRESS RELEASE
ASANKO GOLD ANNOUNCES Q3 2017 PRODUCTION RESULTS
Q3 2017 Highlights:
Quarterly gold production of 49,293 ounces and gold sales of 50,241 ounces, on track to meet 2017
revised production guidance of 205 – 225,000 ounces
US$63.6 million in gold revenue at an average realized price of US$1,265 per ounce
Nkran reconciliation confirming the Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimates
Industry-leading safety record maintained with a rolling 12 month LTIFR of 0.19
Stable balance sheet with unaudited cash and immediately convertible working capital balances of
approximately US$64.3 million (September 30, 2017)
Vancouver, British Columbia, October 19, 2017 – Asanko Gold Inc. (“Asanko” or the “Company”) (TSX,
NYSE American: AKG) announces production results for the third quarter of 2017 (“Q3”) from the Asanko
Gold Mine (“AGM”), located in Ghana, West Africa. Q3 operating and financial results will be published on
November 3, 2017, conference call and webcast details below.
Commenting on the quarter Peter Breese, President and CEO, said “Overall, our quarterly production
performance for Q3 was very encouraging, w ith positive results in a number of key areas: reconciliations
confirming the Nkran resource model , management of ore losses and dilution and the plant achieving
milling rates in excess of 13,500 tonnes on a per day campaign basis.
Although July and August production was impacted by the three mill motor outages , which equated to in
excess of 5,000 ounces of lost gold production, the quarter still produced a very respectable 49,293 ounces.
Looking ahead to the final quarter of the year, we maintain our r evised guidance of 205,000 - 225,000
ounces.”
Health and Safety
There were no lost time injuries (“LTI”) reported d uring the quarter and the 12 -month rolling lost time
injury frequency rate (“LTIFR”) per million man hours worked is 0.19.
Production
At Nkran, the deployment of blast monitoring technology to mi nimize ore losses and dilution has been
yielding positive results. During Q3 mining operations extract ed ore from multiple zones of minerali zation
with an average mining grade of 1.8 g/t.
At the Akwasiso satellite deposit, mining operations delivered approximately 20,000tpm of oxide ore.
At Dynamite Hill, the second satellite pit to be bought into production , site establishment commenced
during the quarter in preparation of ore mining operations in Q4 2017.
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The processing plant’s performance during Q3 was impacted by three mill motor outages during July and
August that resulted in a total of 11 days of lost milling time, which equates to in excess of 5,000 ounces of
gold production. Metallurgical recoveries continued to exceed design levels at 94% with higher than design
gravity recovery performance.
AGM Key Production Statistics Units Q1 2017 Q2 2017 Q3 2017
Total Tonnes Mined 000 t 6,637 7,506 8,519
Waste Tonnes Mined 000 t 5,620 6,458 7,339
Ore Tonnes Mined 000 t 1,017 1,048 1,180
Strip Ratio W:O 5.5:1 6.2:1 6.2:1
Average Gold Grade Mined g/t 1.8 1.5 1.8
Ore Treated 000 t 908 887 862
Gold Feed Grade g/t 2.0 1.7 1.9
Gold Recovery % 95 94 94
Gold Produced oz 58,187 46,017 49,293
Nkran Resource & Reserve Reconciliation
The reconciliation process to measure the entire value chain from gold in the ground through to mill feed
and eventual gold production against the mineral resource estimate continued during the quarter . The
grade control versus the resource model reconciliation continues to be positive and the res erve to mill feed
reconciliation is within 1% for the quarter.
Sales and Liquidity
Gold production for the quarter was 49,293 ounces with gold sales of 50,241 ounces at an average realized
price of US$1,265 per ounce, generating gold sales revenue of US$ 63.6 million. At September 30, 2017 the
Company’s balance sheet had approximately US$ 60.7 million in unaudited cash, US$ 1.4 million in gold
receivables and US$2.2 million in dore (with a market value of US$3.7 million).
Under the current debt financing agreement with RK Mine Finance (“Red Kite ”), the Company’s first
principal repayment on its US$150 million debt facility is due on July 1, 2018. However, as previously
disclosed, Asanko has the option until March 31, 2018 to extend the first principal repayment of the facility
by an additional year to July 1, 2019. Asanko is currently in discussions with Red Kite regarding the possible
refinancing of the debt facility to support its P roject 5 Million growth plan, which includes the construction
of an overland conveyor and bringing the large Esaase deposit into production.
Qualified Person Statement
Frederik Fourie, Asanko Senior Mining Engineer (Pr.Eng) is the Asanko Qualified Person, as defined by
Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Mineral Disclosure), who has approved the preparation
of the technical contents of this news release.
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Q3 2017 Operating and Financial Results Conference Call & Webcast Details
Management will host a conference call and webcast at 9am EST on Friday, November 3, 2017 to discuss
the Q3 2017 operating and financial results, which will be published on the same day:
US/Canada Toll Free: 800 954 0585
UK Toll Free: 0800 496 1094
International: + 1 312 281 1210
Webcast:
Please click on the link: https://cc.callinfo.com/r/1p4r4b25z6ku0&eom
Replay
A recorded playback will be available approximately two hours after the call until December 3, 2017:
US/Canada Toll Free: 800 558 5253
International: +1 416 626 4100
Passcode: 21860092
Enquiries:
For further information please visit: www.asanko.com, email: [email protected] or contact:
Alex Buck - Manager, Investor and Media Relations
Toll-Free (N.America): 1-855-246-7341
Telephone: +44-7932-740-452
Email: [email protected]
Rob Slater – Executive, Corporate Development and Strategy
Telephone: +27-11-467-2758
Email: [email protected]
About Asanko Gold Inc.
Asanko’s vision is to become a mid -tier gold mining company that maximizes value for all its stakeholders.
The Company’s flagship project is the multi-million ounce Asanko Gold Mine located in Ghana, West Africa.
Asanko is managed by highly skilled and successful technical, operational and financial professionals. The
Company is strongly committed to the highest standards for environmental management, social
responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighbouring communities.
Forward-Looking and other Cautionary Information
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward -looking statements". All statements in this
release, other than statements of historical facts, that address esti mated resource quantities, grades and contained
metals, possible future mining, exploration and development activities, are forward -looking statements. Although the
Company believes the forward -looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such s tatements should not
be in any way construed as guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially
from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in
forward-looking statements include market prices for metals, the conclusions of detailed feasibility and technical
analyses, the timely renewal of key permits, lower than expected grades and quantities of resources, mining rates and
recovery rates and t he lack of availability of necessary capital, which may not be available to the Company on terms
acceptable to it or at all. The Company is subject to the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general
economic and business conditions. F or more information on the Company, Investo rs should review the Company's
Annual Form 40-F filing with the United States Securities Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available
at www.sedar.com.
Neither Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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Cautionary Note to US Investors Regarding Mineral Reporting Standards:
Asanko has prepared it s disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which
differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Terms relating to mineral resources in this press release are defined
in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects under the guidelines set
out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral
Reserves. The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC,
to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. Asanko uses
certain terms, such as, “measured mineral resources”, “indicated mineral resources”, “i nferred mineral resources” and
“probable mineral reserves”, that the SEC does not recognize (these terms may be used in this press release and are
included in the public filings of Asanko which have been filed with securities commissions or similar authori ties in
Canada).