Noble Mineral Resources has received an environmental permit from the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency for the Bibiani gold mine in western Ghana.

The Bibiani open-pit mine is located 250km north-west of Accra and hosts over 17Moz of gold in the Sefwi-Bibiani belt.

With the receipt of the permit, Noble Mineral will start the mining activities immediately.

Initial mining operations will include preparation of satellite pits with pre-stripping waste and stockpiling ore on the extended run of mine ore pad from the satellite pits and tailings deposits.

The permit will also enable commissioning of the refurbished processing plant to start.

Stage one and stage two design of the tailings storage facility are awaiting the required authorisation to start the work.