Akobo reports strong gold production and progress at Segele - African Mining Market

AI desk brief

Akobo Minerals reported another strong month at its Segele underground gold mine in Ethiopia, with August 2026 output of about 16 kg of doré at an average grade of 26 g/t. That was the company’s second-best month since start-up and lifted cumulative production to roughly 158 kg at an average grade of 24 g/t, reinforcing the high-grade nature of the deposit.

Operations are still constrained by batch processing rather than continuous plant runs, so monthly throughput and stockpiles will remain lumpy. Akobo said around 700 tonnes of stockpile are currently available for processing, while the vertical shaft still has about 54 metres remaining to complete. Progress on the shaft has been slower than planned due to softer rock conditions, but the first lateral into the orebody is expected to begin soon from the eastern winze and later from the shaft.

Near term, the key watchpoints are whether shaft development accelerates hoisting from the orebody and whether the company can convert its high grades into steadier output. For the gold market, this is a small incremental supply story rather than a macro driver, but it does confirm continued high-grade production growth from a niche African producer. The build-out of water storage and tailings infrastructure also points to ongoing capex and execution risk rather than an immediate step-change in global supply.