Trafigura signs offtake deal to buy 700,000 ounces of gold from Bogoso-Prestea mine
Mine poured first gold in February after two-year hiatus
Ghana pushing reforms to lift revenue and local participation
Adds context and background in paragraphs 4, 6 and 7
April 9 (Reuters) - Global commodity trader Trafigura has signed a deal with Ghanaian mid-tier miner Heath Goldfields Ltd to buy 700,000 ounces of gold ore from the Bogoso–Prestea mine, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.
As part of the agreement which Trafigura said was its first in Ghana's gold sector, the trading firm said it would provide $65 million in debt financing to support the restart of the mine's oxide ore operations.
Trafigura would also take up the gold dore - a semi-processed gold product - produced at the Bogoso-Prestea processing plant, with deliveries expected to start later this year.
Bogoso‑Prestea, an underground and surface gold mine in western Ghana, was previously owned by Golden Star Resources before a sale to London-based Future Global Resources led to its lease being cancelled, after which the mine was placed on care and maintenance due to financial and operational challenges.
Heath Goldfields, a Ghanaian‑owned company, acquired the mine in September 2024 and completed the first gold pour in February, marking the restart of production.
"Bogoso–Prestea is a producing asset with a strong operational team and LBMA compliance, and we look forward to applying our physical trading expertise and market access in support of a Ghanaian-owned operation of this quality," said Gonzalo De Olazaval, head of metals and minerals at Trafigura.
The transaction underscores strong confidence in Ghana’s mining sector and in the capacity of an indigenous operator to execute at scale, Heath Goldfields Managing Director Patrick Appiah Mensah said in a separate statement.
The deal was structured by pan‑African investment bank Verdant IMAP with legal advice from London-based Sullivan and Accra-based JLD & MB, he said.
Ghana, Africa’s top gold producer, has been pushing reforms to lift state revenues and expand local participation across the mining sector.
(Reporting by Noel John; Additiional reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
((Noel.John@thomsonreuters.com;))
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