JOHANNESBURG – Africa’s biggest gold producer AngloGold Ashanti said on Wednesday it has signed a deal with Randgold Resources to develop and mechanise its Obuasi mine in Ghana.

Randgold will lead and fund a development plan to rebuild the mine which is expected to take around four months, AngloGold said in a statement.

“This is a necessary step ahead of the envisaged transformation of the mine into a modern, mechanised operation,” the company said.

In November AngloGold stopped production and cut jobs at Obuasi, which holds 5 million ounces of gold reserves.