(Reuters) – AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields have agreed to pause talks to merge their neighbouring Tarkwa and Iduapriem mines in Ghana, the companies said on Tuesday, two years after announcing the plan.
The plan to combine the two mines, which would have created Africa’s biggest gold mine, had not been advanced, with the Ghanaian government still to make a decision on whether to grant regulatory approval.
“The companies have decided to pause discussions around the joint venture to allow them to focus on improving the current, standalone performance at their respective sites,” AngloGold said in a statement.
Gold Fields said in a separate statement that while a combination of the two mines remained “compelling”, the two miners would continue focusing on their respective operations “on a standalone basis”.
Under the joint venture plan, Gold Fields and AngloGold would have owned 60% and 30% of the merged operation, respectively, with the government holding 10%.
The joint operation had been forecast to produce an average 900,000 ounces annually over the first five years and 600,000 ounces a year over the estimated 18-year life of the mine.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya in Harare ; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
