Anglogold Ashanti demands security at Obuasi mine

AngloGold Ashanti has called for the immediate restoration of law and order in Obuasi and on the mine to enable it to continue with its feasibility study to get the mine back on track.

Mr Eric Asubonteng, Head of Operations at AngloGold Ashanti, said they had been in contact with government at various levels since the withdrawal of the military from the mine, and would continue to liaise with government to ensure that law and order was restored.

“Our position is that we want the mine operational area to be secured,” Eric Asubonteng, Head of Operations said while expressing fears that if the situation is not resolved quickly, the illegal miners might entrench themselves.

He said the invasion of the concession by illegal miners was not a healthy one as AngloGold Ashanti was working to get investors to help turn the mine around.

“Obviously this is not a very helpful situation. Towards the end of last year we were looking for partners. Randgold came into the picture and they subsequently pulled out.

"We have since then be working on how best to get it back on track and having a security situation like this doesn’t help investment decisions at all,” Mr Asubonteng said.

Anglogold Ashanti partially suspended operations, rendering only essential services following clashes between illegal miners and some of its staff, leading to the death of the company’s Communications Manager, John Owusu.

He said the current situation was a big worry to the company: “We’ve pulled out our non-essential staff so you can reasonably expect that even if there is a new investor sitting on the wings wanting to come in, this is a situation that would negatively impact their decision,” he said.