The Ashanti Goldfields Corporation is a gold mining company based in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

that was founded by Joseph Ellis and Joseph Biney both from Cape Coast. The Ashanti Mine, located at

Obuasi Obuasi is a Mining Community and town in the southern part of Obuasi Municipal of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Obuasi is the capital of the Obuasi Municipal which lies south of Ashanti capital city Kumasi 39 miles (59.4 kilometres) away sout ...

, 56 km south of

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is t ...

, has been producing since 1897. During the turn of the century 1900, the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation was among the most important gold mining companies listed at the London Stock Exchange. The mine is sited on one of the world's major gold deposits and is one of the ten largest in the world. In 1994, the Ghana government, the majority shareholder, announced plans to sell 20-25 percent of its interest in AGC in a share flotation. The company was listed on the London and Ghana stock exchanges. It was the largest flotation ever organised by any gold mining company coordinating and advisory team alone numbered over 200 people. Each of the company's 10,000 employees received five free shares. In 1996 AGC was listed on the New York Stock Exchange to raise new capital, it was the first African company to appear on Wall Street. In 1999, the company succumbed to an ill-executed gold price hedge led by

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, Ho ...

, which drove it to the brink of bankruptcy. In 2004, it merged with AngloGold to create the world's second-largest gold producer,

AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company. It was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation. It is now a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents. The company is listed ...

company. AngloGold is based in South Africa and majority-owned by Anglo American group.

Mines and production

Gold production figures for the company's mines in 2002 and 2003 were (in ounces per annum):Ashanti Annual Report 2003
accessed: 10 August 2010 * Percentage figures behind names indicate the share of production of the mine belonging to Ashanti. Production figures shown are those belonging to Ashanti, not overall production.

References

External links

AngloGold Ashanti HomepageHistory of Ashanti Goldfields Corporation
* {{Authority control AngloGold Ashanti Gold mining companies of Ghana Defunct mining companies Defunct companies of Ghana Economy of Ashanti Region Non-renewable resource companies established in 1897 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 2004 1897 establishments in Africa 2004 disestablishments in Africa 2004 disestablishments in Ghana British Togoland Togoland