Newmont's Ahafo gold mine begins production
12 July 2006
Newmont Ghana Gold Limited announced on July 4 that it has begun production in its Ahafo gold mine project in the Brong Ahafo region in central Ghana, and expects to produce its first gold bars in the next two weeks. The gold mine, partially financed by an International Finance Corporation (IFC) loan of $125 million, has been at the center of controversy concerning the livelihood impacts of the massive resettlement of some 9000 people and outstanding environmental issues such as the risk of contaminating the local water supply through the use of cyanide in gold extraction and destruction of protected forest zones.