Asanko Gold Partners With Leading Canadian NGO, CODE to Bring its World Class Literacy and Education Program to the Ashanti Region of Ghana

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 8, 2016) - Celebrating this 50^th Anniversary of UNESCO's International Literacy Day, CODE is pleased to announce a new, six-year partnership with Asanko Gold which will extend CODE's world class "Reading Ghana" literacy and education program to include the Ashanti Region of the country.

Commenting on today's announcement, Asanko Gold Ghana's Chairman, Dr. Ben Adoo, said, "We are very excited to be partnering with CODE, a recognized leader in literacy and education, on their "Reading Ghana" program, which will strengthen literacy and education services in the Ashanti Region, where our mine is located."

"As a responsible miner, Asanko Gold is committed to sharing the benefits from the Asanko Gold Mine with all its stakeholders. We are implementing a series of long-term sustainable projects, called the "Asanko Opportunity Cycle" which will create a positive legacy beyond the life of the mine. CODE's "Reading Ghana" forms a key component of the Asanko Opportunity Cycle and complements our other projects in the fields of healthcare, skills training and financial literacy."

"Over the next six years, we will invest C$600,000 (equivalent to GHS 1.85 million) in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region, which will cover 32 public schools (16 primary and 16 junior high schools) and train over 150 teachers and head teachers of the Ghana Education Service. We believe this program will make a tangible difference to the children of the Ashanti region over the coming years, broadening their horizons and improving their literacy levels."

Reading Ghana is a comprehensive literacy and readership initiative where CODE works through its locally based partner, the Ghana Book Trust, to deliver a multi-faceted program. The initiative works to train educators to become more effective in teaching reading and writing, to resource schools and libraries with desperately needed books that aim to nurture a love of reading, to monitor and assess the results of its programming and to train trainers to build sustainability in the program for the future.

"We are delighted to be Asanko Gold's partner of choice for their education project. Asanko's six-year investment in Reading Ghana reflects the company's shared belief that supporting success in education is a long term commitment. We look forward to realizing meaningful impact with their support," stated Scott Walter, Executive Director for CODE.

Fifty years ago, UNESCO officially proclaimed September 8^th International Literacy Day to actively mobilize the international community and to promote literacy as an instrument to empower individuals, communities and societies.

This year's International Literacy Day theme is "Reading the past. Writing the future." "With a storied history of over fifty years, CODE pre-dates International Literacy Day, and we remain inspired that the next chapter of our story, with partners such as Asanko, is sure to be the most exciting yet," reflected Mr. Walter.

For more information about CODE please visit www.code.ngo, Asanko Gold and its Corporate Social responsibility at www.asanko.com and the Ghana Book Trust at www.ghanabooktrust.com.

About CODE

With over 55 years of continued success, CODE is Canada's leading international development agency uniquely focused on advancing literacy and education in some of the world's regions in greatest need. By acting to establish and ignite engaging learning environments through the development and publishing of locally authored and designed children books, training teachers and teacher-librarians, resourcing libraries as well as distributing significant numbers of high quality reading materials, CODE focuses on inspiring young minds to improve their literacy and comprehension with the hope that they become critical thinkers and life-long learners, all in working towards nurturing a literate civil society. www.code.ngo

About Asanko Gold

Asanko Gold is a leading West African gold producer. Its primary asset is the Asanko Gold Mine, located in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The Company has a comprehensive corporate social responsibility program which covers the key areas of education, health, skills development and financial literacy. In 2015, Asanko contributed US$202 million to the Ghanaian economy by supporting over 223 Ghanaian businesses through the procurement of goods and services. www.asanko.com