By Adria Calatayud

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. said Friday that strong cash generation for 2020 will support a sharply higher dividend payment, and that it is on track to meet cost and production guidance.

The South Africa-based gold miner said 2020 free cash flow generation will be the strongest in almost a decade, building on a free cash flow of $516 million for the first nine months of the year.

AngloGold, which withdrew guidance in March due to uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic, in September reinstated guidance for a full-year production of between 3.03 million and 3.10 million ounces, and all-in sustaining costs between $1,060 and $1,120 an ounce.

Adjusted net debt is expected to fall by year-end after already declining by nearly half to $875 million in the first nine months of 2020, the company said.

The company said it will outline guidance for 2021 and 2022 at a capital-markets day planned for the first quarter of 2021, and said it will set a new climate strategy and emission targets in the second half of the year.

AngloGold's search for a new chief executive is in progress, with its board considering internal and external candidates, it added.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-18-20 0137ET