AngloGold Ashanti may be vulnerable to a takeover following CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan’s surprise resignation on Monday. He is joining London-listed diversified miner Vedanta Resources as CEO. His impending departure — Venkat, as he is widely known, will officially stand down at the end of August — has helped create fresh intrigue around Vedanta, whose billionaire executive chairman, Indian national Anil Agarwal, took a 21% option on Anglo American shares last year through his investment vehicle Volcan. It was a move that many thought could lead to a fuller combination of Vedanta and Anglo. Anglo American, in turn, has been headed by Venkat’s former boss Mark Cutifani since he left AngloGold, which departure opened up the top job to Venkat, who was CFO at the time. What Agarwal plans to do with Anglo still has everyone guessing. Last year Bloomberg described it as "mining’s biggest mystery". But Investec Asset Management portfolio manager Hanré Rossouw says: "I’m more in the cam...

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