AngloGold Ashanti will temporarily suspend production from its South Africa operations for three weeks.

This will begin from 26 March 2020.

According to the mining giant, these operations will be safely placed into care and maintenance over that period.

The decision is due to the increase COVID-19 cases in South Africa, which has now hit 554.

The company wants to protect its workers from contracting the virus.

It is, however, unclear whether its Ghana operations, which is one of the most profitable in recent times will also shut down in the nearest future if the numbers keep rising.

Ghana has, so far, recorded fifty-three COVID-19 cases, the majority being imported.  

The company, in a statement, said plans will be developed to help safely regain production delayed by this shutdown, where possible.

The South African operations include the Mponeng Mine, Mine Waste Solutions and surface rock-dump processing operations.

These operations produced 419,000 ounces of gold for the year-ended 31 December 2019.

An agreement has been reached to sell these assets to Harmony Gold Mining Company, a transaction, which is expected to close on about June 30 of this year, subject to certain conditions precedent.

The company emphasised: “It is continually monitoring the situation related to the COVID-19 outbreak as it unfolds and remains in close contact with authorities in each country, with our employees and with our key suppliers and other business partners, to help ensure business continuity and mitigate any interruptions that may occur”.