GHANAIAN mining company Ashanti Goldfields has reported a 68% fall in first quarter profits on Thursday, reflecting a lower realised gold price than a year ago.Earnings fell to $6,9-million, or six cents a share, from $21,5-million, or 20 cents, a year earlier as the average gold price obtained by the firm slid to $345 an ounce from $380. Output at Africa’s third biggest gold producer increased by 4% to 417849 ounces. Ashanti’s managing director for investor relations, Kweku Awotwi, said it would be offsetting cutbacks elsewhere in Ghana by acquiring the Teberebie mine in conjunction with South Africa’s Gold Fields.