AngloGold Ashanti buys 5% of Thesis Gold, gains technical committee seat at Lawyers‑Ranch

AngloGold Ashanti takes a strategic foothold in Lawyers-Ranch

MAIN TOPIC — AngloGold Ashanti’s minority investment in Thesis Gold signals a strategic move into the Lawyers-Ranch district, as the Johannesburg-based miner privately subscribes for a 5% stake in Thesis. AngloGold purchases 13,858,883 common shares for roughly $38.7 million, and the deal includes an investor rights agreement that gives AngloGold customary protections such as financing participation rights and the ability to appoint to a technical committee. The arrangement positions AngloGold to influence technical work and provide ongoing oversight as Thesis advances the project.

AngloGold frames the transaction as more than capital provision, seeking to deploy its global operating experience and technical depth to accelerate development. Thesis expects the funding to support ongoing technical studies at the Lawyers-Ranch gold-silver project, and AngloGold’s involvement is presented by Thesis management as validation of the district’s scale and quality. The technical committee seat and participation rights create a formal channel for AngloGold to contribute expertise to resource definition, engineering trade-offs and study workstreams.

For AngloGold, the deal aligns with a broader industry trend of major producers taking strategic minority positions in emerging projects to gain early access to significant discoveries and to shape de-risking programs. The company secures exposure to a North American precious-metals district while maintaining flexibility through minority ownership and participation rights rather than an immediate operating commitment. Thesis expects closing around Feb. 26, subject to customary conditions, after which AngloGold and other participants will support the company’s disciplined technical program.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS — Centerra Gold exercises its pre-emptive right under a prior investor agreement and subscribes for 2,059,730 common shares at the same issue price, increasing its holding to about 9.9% at closing and contributing roughly $5.7 million to the financing. Combined, the two subscriptions raise approximately $44.4 million and issue 15,918,613 new common shares, expanding Thesis’s shareholder base.

The proceeds are earmarked for working capital, general corporate purposes and continued technical studies at the Lawyers-Ranch project. Thesis’s management says the commitments from AngloGold and Centerra help de-risk its work, complement its technical program and aim to unlock the full potential of the Lawyers-Ranch district as the company advances resource definition and engineering studies.