In the presence of the President of Ghana, Akufo-Addo, and the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Tong Defa, a ceremony was held recently on November 8 to mark the commissioning and first gold pour at Shandong Gold’s Cardinal Namdini gold project, which is now the third largest gold mine in Ghana.
It is also significant as it is located in the north of the country. The President stated at the event: “This mine we commission today is evidence of the power of exploration as the lifeblood of the mining industry. For years, this area, and several other areas within this northern belt of our country, have only been known for small-scale mining. Large-scale mining firms have concentrated on the south, largely influenced by the literature that links gold only to the south of our nation. It is investment in exploration that led to the construction of this mine, which we are told today will become the third largest mine in the country and one of the largest single-stream gold mines in West Africa.”
CITIC Heavy Industries Co Ltd (CITIC HIC) supplied an overflow type 8.2 x 12.7 m ball mill to Cardinal Namdini. The ball mill saw its factory test run at CITIC HIC’s factory in Luoyang, China on August 15, 2023 before subsequent delivery to the customer.
The ball mill is the largest exported from China to date, and in accordance with international standards and norms, CITIC Heavy Industries says it has applied key technologies such as a variable frequency dual-drive synchronous motor drive, large pure static bearings and lubrication, intelligent load sensing, and large open gear design and manufacturing, adopting high-efficiency, parametric 3D design and intelligent factory manufacturing.
CITIC says the large ball mill offers a high operation rate and low maintenance and “represents the current international advanced level of high-end mining equipment, and is another important step in what is being achieved in the export of large ‘Made in China’ critical mineral processing equipment.
CITIC Heavy Industry also provided two CC400 cone crushers, a PXZ54-75 gyratory crusher and a CSM-950 vertical stirred mill for the Cardinal Namdini gold project, which it says fully demonstrated its excellent technical strength and professional service capabilities in the field of mineral processing. During the on-site commissioning stage, CITIC arranged for eight of its skilled service engineers to carry out overseas installation services.
Cardinal Namdini is Shandong Gold’s first overseas ‘self-built’ large-scale gold mine in Ghana, and also the first large-scale self-built project of a major Chinese enterprise in West Africa. It is one of the largest gold mines in West Africa and is expected to consolidate Ghana’s position as one of the world’s leading gold producers, with production expected to reach 350,000 oz/y. It is the first major greenfield mine to be opened in Ghana in a decade and will be closely followed by the opening of Ahafo North by Newmont in 2025 which will be another 300,000 oz/y plus operation.