Harmony begins share sale to fund AngloGold deal

Harmony agreed in February to buy rival AngloGold Ashanti’s assets in South Africa, including the world’s deepest gold mine the Mponeng mine, for about $300 million.

After completion, the deal will make Harmony South Africa’s biggest gold producer.

The details of the share sale, which is being done through a placement of ordinary shares, such as the closing date, the price of shares and allocations to investors will be decided in due course, Harmony said in a statement.

All South African miners, except those mining coal, were hurt by a month-long lockdown in April as the government tried to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The miners were allowed to operate with a workforce of 50% from May and 100% from June, under strict social distancing guidelines.

The relaxation helped Harmony increase its gold sales from the South African operations from approximately 1 tonne in April to approximately 1.7 tonnes in May, it said.

Shares of most gold mining companies have surged in the last few months as fears of a global economic slowdown pushed investors’ money into safe-haven gold.