JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A mechanism is in place to repatriate $252-million from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), AngloGold Ashanti CEO Kelvin Dushnisky said on Monday.

The Johannesburg- and New York-listed company drew attention to the outstanding cash balances awaiting repatriation from the DRC in a first quarter market update.

“There’s clearly room to improve our cash conversion. The focus here is on our remaining cash from the DRC, where we have some $252-million still to be repatriated. Importantly, though, we have access to that cash for use at Kibali, if needed,” Dushnisky said during a virtual first-quarter media roundtable.

Kibali is a joint venture between Barrick (45%), AngloGold Ashanti (45%) and Société Miniére de Kilo-Moto (10%). Barrick is the operator and gained ownership of the mine through the acquisition of Randgold Resources in January 2019.

“Our partner Barrick remains in advanced engagement with the government on this.

“In the DRC we’ve been able to pay dividends regularly but we’ve had cash that’s been locked in the DRC that we can repatriate. In the DRC, Barrick, our partner, is the operator and they are leading the discussions in the engagement with the government. They’ve made good progress and our understanding from Barrick is that the mechanism is in place to repatriate the money.

“The Covid-19 situation hasn't helped in terms of getting the money finally released but we’re told that it’s on track to be released and we’re looking forward to that happening very soon. As far as the specific timing, our partner is managing that.

“This cash importantly is held in our JV account in dollars and that money is available to Kibali should we need to be using it in-country,” Dushnisky said in response to Mining Weekly.

Kibali mine exceeded its 2019 production guidance of 750 000 oz of gold by a substantial margin, delivering 814 027 oz in a record year.

Kibali  makes use of a mission control system that manages underground ore-handling logistics from surface without human intervention.