ANGLO American plans to cut its global workforce by 60,000 people to 102,000 by 2017, with restructuring across its range of businesses and commodities as it seeks to drive up profits in a tough global market.
Anglo will know by the end of March next year whether it will list or sell its Rustenburg and Union platinum mines as it focuses on low-cost, high-margin, mechanised assets, removing about 20,000 employees from its books at a stroke.
Among the other assets up for sale or being considered for disposal are two coal mines in Australia, coal mines supplying Eskom in SA, the two platinum mines, along with two platinum joint ventures and the Thabazimbi iron ore mine in SA.
Copper assets are also being prepared for sale and Anglo was keeping its options open about whether to sell its nickel mine in Brazil, CEO Mark Cutifani said on Tuesday.
Anglo’s 80%-held subsidiary, Anglo American Platinum, has started the sales process for the Union mines, with Sibanye Gold, RBPlatinum and Northam Platinum understood to be the final three out of 81 expressions of interest in the assets. The sticking point is the price Anglo wants for the mines, but Mr Cutifani stressed Anglo was not chasing the best price.
A study by mining consultants DRA has shown Union could be profitably mined by a smaller company. It is doing similar work at Rustenburg and that process should be completed in weeks, allowing Anglo to start the formal sales process it is running.
“We are not going to argue about the last dollar. It’s about strategic change,” Mr Cutifani said. Anglo will decide towards the end of the first quarter of next year whether it has been offered reasonable value for the mines or whether to list them.
In SA, productivity is receiving special attention, particularly at the coal division, where productivity is a third of what it is at similar mines in Australia. It appears Anglo is looking to exit its coal mines, which supply Eskom for a fraction of the price it can achieve from its export-focused mines. Anglo Coal SA has a 73% stake in Anglo American Inyosi Coal, a black economic empowerment company.
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