Accra, April 23, GNA - Anglogold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine has started a plant expansion project to increase its treatment capacity by some 15 per cent to yield 4.3 million tonnes of ore per annum.

It is expected to be commissioned by late 2008 and will boost production and reduce operating costs significantly.

Mr David Renner, Managing Director of the Mine, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Thursday following a road show organized by the company's corporate office for selected stakeholders in Accra.

It was attended by a number of industry participants and chiefs within the catchment area of the AngloGold Ashanti operations in Ghana. According to him, the company's attributable production for 2006 decreased by four percent to 167,000 ounces following a series of mill and crusher breakdowns at the beginning of the year. On the company's social responsibilities, Mr Renner said they had committed about 1.2 million dollars to community and social investment projects and paid nine million dollars as royalties to government from 2004 to 2006.

He also intimated that the company would be making tax payment of 3.2 million dollars for the 2006 financial year by the end of April 2007.

Highlighting on the company's community development programme dubbed: "Hand-in-Hand", Mr Renner said that the company, in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) had jointly developed a community development programme, which focused on areas such as capacity building agriculture, micro credit financing, micro enterprises, education, health and sanitation and infrastructural development. Mr Renner said the mine would continue to be committed to its social responsibilities to improve the living conditions of the communities within the Iduapriem mine catchment area.

The Chief of Adieyie, a host community within the mine's operational area, Nana Sampson Cudjoe, said that they were grateful to the Company for offering training for farmers and providing agricultural inputs such as seedlings and fingerlings in addition to the micro-credit facility.