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Randgold Resources Limited has terminated its conditional Investment Agreement with AngloGold Ashanti.
The two parties signed the agreement in September 2015 for a joint venture geared towards the redevelopment of the Obuasi Mine.
Although AngloGold Ashanti and Randgold agreed on works towards improving returns of the project and alos secure an appropriate set of consents from the Government, initial feasibility studies have discouraged Randgold from proceeding with the deal.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources of Ghana has approved continuation of Obuasi's limited operating phase by the first quarter of 2016.
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Limited operations will be undertaken at reduced cost, compared to 2015, including maintaining the operations, security, environmental management, optimising the feasibility study, as well as ongoing sustainability work.
"We have made a concerted effort to unlock a new opportunity for Obuasi, and the work we have done lays a good foundation for the operation in the long term," AngloGold Ashanti Chief Executive Officer Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan said.
"But in the current environment, we believe it is prudent to conserve our resources and to revisit this opportunity when market conditions improve."
Obuasi, located in the Ashanti has a large, high-grade deposit with proven and probable ore reserves (as reported by AngloGold Ashanti in its2014 Annual Report) of 24.53Mt at 6.70g/t for 5.29Moz, part of a substantial mineral resource base.