Ashanti Signs Agreements That Secure Its Future.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2000

Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited ("Ashanti" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that today the final signatures have been obtained on agreements which it believes will secure its future. The principal agreements are:

- a US$100 million debt facility to complete its Geita Project and for general
working capital purposes

- the renewal, under new terms, of its existing US$270 million Revolving Credit
Facility ("RCF")

- the consolidation of its existing bilateral facilities in a new tranche of
the RCF

- an amendment to the agreement with its hedge counterparties under which the
conditions to continue to permit margin-free trading for three years have been
satisfied or waived; as a part of that agreement the Company has repriced the
five year equity warrants, issued to its hedge counterparties on 30 October
1999 ("Warrants"), to facilitate the re-allocation of a proportion of them to
the Company's lending banks as part of the overall arrangements

Debt Facilities

The new US$100 million term loan facility ("New Facility") is to enable Ashanti to complete its Geita Project in Tanzania and to provide funds for general working capital purposes. The New Facility was arranged by Barclays Capital and was syndicated amongst existing lenders under the existing RCF.

The New Facility is repayable on the earlier of 30 September 2000 and the date of the completion of a sale of assets to raise a net amount of at least US$200 million or the completion of an equity issue to raise a net amount of at least US$150 million.

The New Facility will carry a margin over US LIBOR of:

- 250 basis points from the date of the agreement to 31 March

2000 as an initial margin;

- 350 basis points from 1 April 2000 to 30 June 2000; and

- 450 basis points from 1 July 2000 to 30 September 2000

Ashanti has also agreed to certain amendments to the RCF. The principal amendments are as follows:

- margin over US LIBOR for each tranche of the facility has

been increased to the following levels: (i) Facility A - 200

basis points; (ii) Facility B - 250 basis points; and (iii)

Facility C - 250 basis points

- a new Tranche D has been added which consolidates the

various bilateral facilities which Ashanti had with certain

of its existing lenders and counterparties

- Facilities A and D (totalling US$151 million) fall due for

repayment on 31 December 2000 while Facilities B and C

(totalling US$175 million) fall due for repayment on 15

January 2003

Drawdown under the New Facility is expected to occur by the end of this week.

Commenting on the signings, Sam Jonah, Chief Executive Officer, said "...the signing of the New Facility will allow Ashanti to pursue its objective of getting its exciting Geita Project into production in the shortest time possible, to the benefit of all stakeholders. Furthermore, the agreement reached with the hedge counterparties will enable the company to go forward and retain the benefits of hedge protection without the spectre of potential cash calls for a three year period. The negotiation of this facility has been extraordinarily complex, requiring agreement from each of Ashanti's 22 lending banks and 14 hedge counterparties. I would like to thank all parties for their hard work in completing the New Facility. In particular, I would like to thank Mark Keatley, our Chief Financial Officer, who, with his team and our advisers, has devoted himself tirelessly to achieving this successful outcome."

Gerard Holden, Global Head of Mining & Metals at Barclays Capital, the arranger of the New Facility, stated "The signing of these agreements provides a solid platform for Ashanti's business going forward. Ashanti's lending and hedge counterparties have provided an integrated package to assist the Company during a time of need. It is a testimony to the maturity and hard work of these institutions and Ashanti's management that the negotiations of the last four months have resulted in this positive outcome for the Company and its stakeholders."

Warrants Agreement

On 30 October 1999 Ashanti entered into an agreement with its hedge counterparties whereby it agreed to issue Warrants over approximately 15 per cent. of the Company's fully diluted issued ordinary share capital in return, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, for the right to trade margin-free for the next three years. After the initial three year period, margin limits will be re-imposed at higher levels than existed before the crisis for the two years thereafter, finally returning to the limits that existed before the hedge crisis arose.

As part of this overall agreement with its banks, Ashanti has agreed to reduce the subscription price of the Warrants from $4.75 to $3.00 on the understanding that a proportion of the Warrants will be re-allocated by the hedge counterparties to certain of the lending banks.

Ashanti has invited certain individuals to join the Board as non-executive directors in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding entered into between Ashanti, the Government of Ghana, Lonmin Plc and Adryx Mining & Metals Limited on 16 February 2000. An announcement of the new appointees will be made in due course.

Ashanti is being advised by CIBC World Markets.

Certain of the statements made in this announcement are forward-looking in nature. By their nature, the forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend upon circumstances that will occur in the future. These factors include, but are not limited to, statements made elsewhere in this announcement. In addition, risk factors relating to Ashanti can be found in its public SEC filings. Ashanti undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Any statement should be evaluated in the light of these factors.