AngloGold Ashanti, a Ghanaian-South African gold mining company, said on Tuesday it would explore for gold in the southeast Asian country of Laos following an exploration alliance with Oxiana Limited of Laos.
A statement in Accra said the agreement with Oxiana follows AngloGold Ashanti’s investment in Trans-Serbian Gold in Russia and a strategic alliance in the Philippines with Red 5 Limited.
”This initiative aims to further unlock Laos’ gold potential by combining AngloGold Ashanti’s technical expertise with Oxiana’s in-depth country knowledge and operating experience,” the company said.
The alliance is part of a business development strategy to assess opportunities in prospective but underexplored new frontier regions, the company said.
AngloGold Ashanti said the alliance would explore for gold throughout the country except for areas held or under application by Oxiana.
The first phase would be funded jointly by the two companies. Oxiana would be the initial manager with staff from the two companies.
Any resulting projects would be owned equally by the two companies, according to the agreement.
The South African company AngloGold merged with the Ghanaian company Ashanti Gold Company Limited this year. – Sapa-DPA