Australia-based mining company Tietto Minerals has started commercial production at the Abujar gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.

The company said commercial gold production at the mine started less than 18 months after construction activities began for the Abujar process plant.

Located 30km from Daloa in central-western Côte D’Ivoire, the Abujar gold project consists of three contiguous exploration tenements.

The tenements cover a total land area of 1,114km².

In the June 2023 quarter, Tietto Minerals reported production of 15,592oz of gold at the Abujar mine.

Tietto noted that the mill throughput surpassed the definitive feasibility study rate of four million tonnes per annum (tpa) last month.

In June, the mill throughput reached peak rates exceeding 16,000 tonnes per day and is expected to exceed the nameplate capacity in the second half of this year.

Tietto Minerals managing director and CEO Matt Wilcox said: “We are pleased to have reached this milestone at Abujar in less than 18 months after commencing earthworks on the process plant and I thank all members of the team for their efforts in achieving this result.

“Mining rates increased markedly during the quarter, and we anticipate delivering strong net cash flow over the second half as we optimise mining and milling after achieving commercial production during June.”

The company is undertaking a grade control drilling campaign to provide drilling data for at least the next quarter of production.

Tietto owns an 88% stake in the project while local partners hold a 2% stake. The remaining stake in the project is held by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire.