JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - Gold major AngloGold Ashanti said on Friday that operations at its Iduapriem mine in Ghana had been suspended.

This follows discussions with Ghana's Environmental Protection Agency regarding the potentially adverse environmental impacts arising from the current tailings storage facility.

Operations would resume once alternative arrangements for the tailings storage could be established.

AngloGold Ashanti said in a statement that it had identified an interim location for tailings storage and would work with the agency over the next month to make the option operational.

Meanwhile, the company was also accelerating the development of a new tailings storage facility and a water treatment plant, which was planned for commissioning at the end of this year, or early 2011.

AngloGold Ashanti said that rescheduling was under way to define the production impact. However, it was expected that a revised plan would enable a significant portion of lost production to be recovered over the course of the year.

In 2009, Iduapriem produced 190 000 oz of gold, which was 4% of AngloGold Ashanti's yearly global production.

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