Episode Details

Interview with Campbell Baird, CEO of Asante Gold

Recording date: 13th August 2026

Asante Gold Corporation is working through an operational and leadership reset four months into Campbell Baird's tenure as Acting CEO, following the retirement of predecessor Dave Anthony. The company's investment case for 2026 hinges less on new catalysts than on execution against an already-disclosed plan: converting roughly $50 million of deferred or cancelled capital expenditure, combined with a narrower project focus, into the guided 275,000-300,000 ounce production range at an AISC of $3,200-$3,600 per ounce for the full year.

The two operating assets are pulling in different directions operationally. Chirano has provided stability throughout 2026, delivering a consistent 10,000-11,000 ounces monthly even as Bibiani absorbed the impact of a January wall slip and an extended, costly stripping campaign in its Main Pit. Bibiani's ore has also proven more sulfidic than originally modelled, prompting a shift toward roughly 50% flotation processing and a sulfide recovery plant now being tied into the wider circuit - a process Baird estimated was roughly two months from completion.

The key catalyst for H2 2026 performance is grade: Bibiani's head grade is expected to move from approximately 1.3-1.4 g/t over the past six months toward a targeted 1.7-1.8 g/t as mining progresses deeper into the Main Pit, directly underpinning the guided cost reduction weighted to Q4.

On the resource side, Asante's 5 August NI 43-101 update showed combined Measured and Indicated Resources of 4.6 million ounces across both operations - effectively flat against December 2023 levels despite more than 430,000 ounces of production in the interim. Chirano's resource base grew materially (+443,000 ounces M&I since December 2023), supporting a seven-year mine life, while Bibiani's declined 17% on constrained exploration spend and open-pit depletion, even as its Main Pit is interpreted as geologically open to roughly 1,400 metres against only ~600 metres of current definition. The company frames the broader 80-kilometre Chirano-Bibiani Corridor as structurally comparable to far larger, more extensively drilled greenstone belts (Lefroy-Boulder, Abitibi), with a $23.4 million exploration budget allocated for 2026.

On costs, management's own framing is notably conservative: Baird explicitly ruled out sub-$2,000/oz AISC as a credible near-term outcome, targeting below $3,000/oz only as a longer-term objective. This tempers what might otherwise be an overly optimistic reading of the company's cost trajectory, and is worth weighing against the wider sector-level cost inflation (diesel, labour, supply chain) that Baird cited as affecting gold producers broadly, not just Asante.

The clearest risk flag for investors is guidance continuity: Asante's prior annual production target of 400,000-500,000 ounces remains formally withdrawn, with management stating directly it is not planning to reinstate it. The 275,000-300,000 ounce 2026 range should be treated as the only current, company-sanctioned figure.

View Asante Gold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/asante-gold

Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com