Trapped Miners Rescued

All 22 miners who were trapped in an underground shaft in an AngloGold Ashanti gold mine in Obuasi have been rescued.

According to reports, all the miners are safe and none sustained any injuries.

The miners got trapped last Thursday after a power failure. Seven miners had been rescued earlier on.

Rescue workers had to fight to free the remaining15 miners of the multi -national mining company, AngloGold Ashanti, at its North Mine in Obuasi.

Several miners were trapped when an attempt by thieves to steal electrical cable caused a fire outbreak that destroyed the conveyor belt at the Company's Engineering Department and resulted in a power outage.

Initial reports said about 500 miners were trapped but Ernest Abankroh, Country Manager of AngloGold Ashanti, denied the rumours.

The issue of illegal mining has been of great concern to the mining company as its first-half financial year report for 2007 was severely affected by these practices.

According to the report, AngloGold made huge losses, threatening the Obuasi mine.

The company recorded 18.6 percent below targeted production in its third quarter operations. It posted 276,007 ounces of gold production.

AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company with mines on four continents.

It was formed in 2004 by the merger of Anglogold of South Africa and Ashanti Goldfields Corporation of Ghana.

AngloGold Ashanti Limited is listed on the New York, Johannesburg, Ghana, London and Australian stock exchanges, as well as the Paris and Brussels bourse.