Gold producer Aureus Mining has commenced gold sales and initial mining and processing operations at its New Liberty Gold Mine in Liberia.
The company plans to start commercial production at the mine in the fourth quarter of this year.
Aureus Mining president and chief executive officer David Reading said: "The first commercial exporting and sales of gold from Liberia is yet another important milestone in the overall evolution of New Liberty and marks the beginning of revenue generation for the company.
"The progress being made is very encouraging with early operations confirming the high grades at New Liberty and good recoveries, despite the typical teething problems associated with commissioning a new gold mine."
Initially, the mining operations have been hindered due to the problem in availability of explosives that has now been solved.
The firm now plans to implement an updated mine plan that includes the earlier deployment of additional mining equipment.
The plant commissioning is progressing well with 52,310 tonnes of ore processed at an average feed grade of 3.6 g/t, according to the firm.
The New Liberty Process Plant has processed 52,310 tonnes of ROM ore at an average feed grade of 3.6 g/t at an average gold recovery of 89%, to date.