The gold producer invoked the legal clause that frees a company from meeting contractual obligations in September.

The attack is the deadliest in recent years as the military struggles to contain Islamist violence that has overrun parts of Burkina Faso.

Decision comes only a week after the country’s High Court gave Australia’s Mwembeshi Resources a license to build its Kangaluwi copper project.

Eskom, which produces about 95% of South Africa’s power, has been forced to implement rolling blackouts that caused economic output to contract the most in a decade in the first quarter.

The world's second largest gold miner sees output reaching 5.15 to 5.6 million ounces a year between 2020 and 2024.

The miner, which spun out of BHP in 2015, has been trying to sell its South African thermal coal operations for more than a year.

Stricter environmental rules leading to output cuts in world no 1 producer China contributes to quarterly decline.