Resolute Mining Ltd. has signaled that it expects to make a decision on the recommissioning of the Bibiani gold mine in Ghana before the end of this year.

"That mine is currently on care and maintenance and we're working with the government on the opportunity to recommission," Managing Director and CEO John Welborn told delegates Sept. 6 at the Africa Down Under conference in Perth, Western Australia.

"We're drilling this asset out, we're doing a feasibility study and we plan to commission it later this year and make an economic decision on that towards the end of this year."

The mine currently has a five-year life based on a reserve of 640,000 ounces and a resource of 1.8 million ounces. Resolute is currently working to increase the reserve and resource to extend the life of the operation to at least 10 years.

The Bibiani mine is expected to produce about 1.2 million tonnes per annum. Resolute forecasts it will take about nine months to bring the mine back into production and that it will cost about US$72 million in pre-production CapEx.

"Obviously for the benefit of our shareholders we're going to be responsible with the capital that we invest in it, but we also have an obligation to the Ghanaian government in terms of their support for our ownership of this asset," Welborn noted.

While some in the industry have questioned Resolute's ownership of Bibiani and its ability to bring the mine back into production, Welborn is confident the company is a good match for the operation.

"It's a country that we've been in for more than 20 years," he said. "This is very large gold mine in Ghana, we have completed one of the only, if not the only, scheme of company arrangement with the full cooperation of the Ghanaian government because they recognize what we as a management team recognize — that we are the right owner of this asset."

Resolute wants to replicate the success it has had with its Syama gold mine in Mali at Bibiani.

"[Bibiani] hasn't been run profitably by its last two owners," Welborn noted. "If you think about the responsibility we had in taking on the Syama gold mine in 2004, recommissioning it in 2009 and building a long-term economic driver for our shareholders and the Mali government there, that's what we're aiming to do at Bibiani.

"Many of my friends in the industry have questioned our ownership of this asset, to those people I say stay tuned."