Trading in Ashanti Goldfields shares resumed in New York yesterday at $4 11/16 a share, after it published its official response to the conditional $834m (?502m) offer for the company from Lonmin, the mining rump of the former Lonrho conglomerate.

Ashanti's board said there was no assurance that a definitive merger proposal would be made, or, if made, what terms it would be made on. It would consider Lonmin's 32-for-43 share offer once the preconditions for it have been satisfied. These included an irrevocable commitment from the Ghanaian government to support the deal and an agreement by the 17 banks with which Ashanti conducts its derivatives business to a standstill on outstanding liabilities. The share closed at $4 1/16.