MDM awarded studies for Golden Star Resources Wassa Project

MDM Engineering Group Limited (“MDM” or the “Company”) (AIM: MDM) the minerals process and project management company focused on the mining industry, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the definitive feasibility study and scoping study for Golden Star Resources (“GSR”) Wassa de-bottlenecking and expansion gold project in Ghana.

GSR is a mid-tier gold mining company over a quarter-century in age with total historical production of over two million ounces of gold. GSR has two operating mines situated along the prolific Ashanti Gold Belt in Ghana, West Africa.

The Wassa gold mine is located in the south-western region of Ghana approximately 35 km east of Bogoso / Prestea. The mining operations consist of a number of open pits, feeding the processing plant which consists of a traditional Carbon-In-Leach (CIL) system. In 2008, Benso mining operations (40km to the south) commenced to provide a source of high grade ore to the Wassa processing plant. In 2009, mining operations at Hwini-Butre commenced and provided even higher grade ore to the Wassa mill.

The process plant at Wassa currently incorporates a four stage crushing circuit, two 3MW ball mills each in closed circuit with classification cyclones and a 48” Knelson concentrator, a six stage CIL circuit and a 11.5 tonne carbon treatment circuit. The plant has not achieved its nameplate capacity due to sticky ores and more recently an increase in ore hardness, which is why GSR has approached MDM to conduct a feasibility to de-bottleneck and expand the current project.

John Edwards, MDM Principal Process Engineer commented:
“MDM’s recent experience in Ghana coupled with our extensive gold experience will offer great support to the Wassa project. We look forward to working with GSR in aligning their plant with the optimum capacity required.”

Enquiries:
MDM Engineering Group Limited Martin Smith (CEO) Tel: +27 11 993 4300
George Bennett (Executive Director)

Canaccord Genuity Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7523 8350
John Prior/ Sebastian Jones

Tavistock Communications Tel: +44 (0) 207 920 3150
Jos Simson / Emily Fenton

KEY INFORMATION:
MDM:
MDM Engineering Group Limited is a minerals process and project management company focused on the mining industry. The Company provides a wide range of services from preliminary and final feasibility studies, through to plant design, construction and commissioning. To date, the Company’s clients have largely been junior and mid-tier mining corporations with operations in Africa.

The MDM Engineering core technical team has a 24 year track record of completing a wide range of studies and execution projects across a variety of minerals, including precious metals, base metals, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, uranium and diamonds.
The Company has adopted an approach to project execution based on an open-book Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management “EPCM” or “cost-plus” basis and on a Engineering, Procurement and Construct (EPC) basis. With a core focus on Africa, MDM Engineering is setting the benchmark standard for best practice in the mining services industry through its commitment to providing the highest quality services and actively engaging with clients to ensure maximum transparency.
www.mdm-engineering.com

Golden Star Resources:
Golden Star is a mid-tier gold mining company over a quarter-century in age and total historical production of over two million ounces of gold. The Company has two operating mines situated along the prolific Ashanti Gold Belt in Ghana, West Africa. Our growth strategy is the result of our exploration and expansion activities at both Bogoso/Prestea and Wassa/HBB.

The Bogoso/Prestea mine has the ability to process both non-refractory and refractory ores. The Wassa plant processes ore from the Wassa pits in addition to high-grade ore from the HBB satellite mines. In addition to operational growth, the Company has consistently grown through exploration and corporate development activities. Lastly, Golden Star has a long-term commitment to sustainability with particular emphasis on health, education and the environment.
www.gsr.com