According to the AGA spokesperson, Mr Chris Nthite, the mining house has been granted permission by the Department of Mineral Resources & Energy for the limited restart of its Surface Operations in South Africa, which have now recommenced operation on a limited basis. This includes the processing of marginal ore dumps at the West Wits Operations and the reclamation of tailings at the Mine Waste Solutions business unit, in the Vaal River region.

The restart of these operations on 6 April 2020 has been facilitated by about 500 employees, spread across both the West Wits and Vaal River regions.

This is less than a third of the usual staff complement for these business units, and roughly 8% of our total South Africa workforce. All sites have the requisite Covid-19 risk management plans in place. The limited restart will help safeguard technical infrastructure and enable a safe and quick resumption of all remaining operations once the lockdown is over.

Production from the Mponeng underground operation remains suspended during the lockdown which is currently expected to continue to 30 April 2020.

This is now the only one of AngloGold Ashanti’s 14 operations where production is currently suspended.