Ashanti mine financed

ASHANTI GOLDFIELDS has signed a $40 million (?24 million) project-financing deal for the construction of the Siguiri goldmine in northeastern Guinea. The financing, arranged and fully underwritten by Soci?t? G?n?rale through its London office, is a senior debt facility to Ashanti's 85 per cent-owned Guinea affiliate, Soci?t? Ashanti Goldfields de Guinea, with a final maturity in 2001. The Siguiri project, being undertaken by Ashanti's projects division at a capital cost of $55 million, is expected to produce about 150,000 ounces of gold a year at a cash cost of about $220 an ounce.