In the last week of June, a handover ceremony was held at West African Resources’ Kiaka Gold Project in Burkina Faso for a major new Caterpillar fleet of over 30 units. The machines were received from West African Resources’ business partner and Cat dealer NEEMBA Burkina Faso.
The fleet includes 14 785D 145 t class trucks; four 6020 excavators; five D9GC bulldozers; two 777 water tanker trucks; two 16GC graders; two 993 loaders; plus a full range of support equipment designed to enhance operational efficiency and reliability.
In its Q2 2025 production update, the miner states: “Open-pit mining at Kiaka has ramped up as planned, with production now achieving target material movements. Ore stockpiles continue to build on the ROM pad with 945,000 t at a grade of 0.6 g/t for 19,200 ounces available for processing at the end of the quarter.”
It added: “The Kiaka processing plant performed well during commissioning operations in June 2025, with stable mill throughput and metallurgical recoveries that exceeded expectations. Mill throughput is expected to ramp up during Q3 2025 when grid power becomes available. Quarterly reporting of mill operational statistics for Kiaka will commence in Q3 2025. Kiaka’s production guidance for 2025 remains at 100,000 to 150,000 ounces.”
On June 30, West African Resources announced the first gold pour at Kiaka had occurred on June 26th, ahead of schedule and under budget. This was just three and a half years after the acquisition of the project from B2 Gold Corp and partner GAMS-Mining F&I in November 2021.
Taking Kiaka ogether with its existing established mine, Sanbrado, and its satellite Toega project that is also ramping up, the company has a target of being a +500,000 ounces per annum gold producer by 2030 – all from Burkina Faso.