Shareholders in eight big South African gold companies yesterday agreed to pool their assets to create Anglogold Ltd, the world's largest gold producer.

Investors in the separately-listed companies voted by margins of over 90 per cent in favour of joining the new gold behemoth. South Africa's gold industry has undergone a major overhaul as companies struggle to compete against leaner North American and Australian rivals in the face of slumping gold prices amid central bank sales and weakening Asian demand.