The company acquired Bibiani in 2004, but placed it on care and maintenance shortly after to allow exploration activities to further develop the asset into a large-scale operation.
Bibiani’s sale reduces Resolute’s portfolio to two gold assets: Syama, in Mali and Mako, in Senegal.
Resolute changed tune in January this year, launching a review of the mine to determine whether to keep it or sell it to a company “in better place” to keep the gold mine running.
Chifeng noted on Tuesday it would immediately invest the required capital and provide the necessary expertise to recommission Bibiani as an operating gold mine in the shortest possible timeframe.
“I am confident that Resolute’s positive legacy in Ghana, and the interests of all stakeholders in Bibiani, will be protected and enhanced under Chifeng’s ownership,” Resolute’s interim chief executive officer, Stuart Gale, said in the statement.
Resolute sold in January its Ravenswood gold mine in Queensland — the only Australian asset it had — to private equity firm EMR Capital Management. The $207 million-deal left the company with three mines in Africa — Syama, in Mali; Mako, in Senegal; and Bibiani.
Bibiani’s sale would reduce Resolute’s portfolio to only two assets and is subject to a number of conditions. Those include the approval of the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board as well as Chinese and Ghanaian government authorizations.
