Galiano Gold books maiden underground resource at Ghana's Asanko mine

New estimates at the Nkran and Abore pits add nearly 0.83 million ounces below the current open-pit reserve boundary

RMRoy Mulenga

12 February 20262 min read

Galiano Gold, which holds a 90% interest in the Asanko Gold Mine on Ghana's Asankrangwa gold belt, released an annual mineral reserve and resource update on 12 February 2026 that included, for the first time, underground mineral resource estimates at the Nkran and Abore deposits. The maiden underground estimates, effective 31 December 2025, total 3.4 million tonnes of indicated resource at an average grade of 2.74 grams per tonne, containing about 0.30 million ounces, plus 6.5 million tonnes of inferred resource at 2.52g/t, containing a further 0.53 million ounces.

Growth below the pits

The underground resources sit beneath Asanko's existing open-pit mineral reserve boundaries and remain open along strike and at depth, meaning further drilling could extend them. Galiano said the discovery followed several years of exploration success, including high-grade zones identified at the Abore Main and South pits, and further drilling to test the underground potential is planned through 2026.

Why it matters

Asanko has operated as a conventional open-pit mine since 2016, and adding an underground resource option gives Galiano a pathway to extend the mine's life once near-surface ore is exhausted, without needing to find an entirely new deposit. For Ghana, where several ageing gold mines are approaching the point of needing life-extension studies or closure planning, Asanko's move to test underground potential offers a template other operators on the same belt may follow.

What happens next

The resources announced remain in the early inferred and indicated categories rather than a mine-ready reserve, so the next step is further definition drilling in 2026 to firm up grade continuity and eventually support a decision on whether underground mining is economically viable alongside Asanko's existing open-pit operations.