Diamonds are forever; is Anglo American? – by OLIVIA KUMWENDA-MTAMBO AND FREYA BERRY (Reuters U.S. – December 10, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG/LONDON – Anglo American’s plans to shut or sell dozens of loss-making mines have failed to halt a dramatic slide in its share price and it may need to sacrifice stronger parts of the business or raise cash from shareholders to pay down its debt.

The company, which grew from gold fields near Johannesburg to dominate diamond, platinum and, to some extent, iron ore markets, is one of many miners struggling with a fall in commodities’ prices driven by lower demand from China.

That makes selling assets that much harder. Anglo’s shares have slumped 11 percent since it announced the biggest restructuring in its nearly 100-year history on Tuesday, leaving it with a market value of $6.7 billion, down from $27 billion a year ago.

On Thursday, South Africa, which accounts for half its workforce, raised the alarm over the company’s target of ending up with just 50,000 workers from 135,000 now, saying Anglo must make plans to save jobs and citing “national imperatives”.

Bankers meanwhile were poring over its portfolio to see how it could raise the remaining $2 billion of the $4 billion it is seeking by the end of next year.

To survive the drop in commodities prices to multi-year lows, the mining group has already disposed of several non-core assets. This year it sold its stake in building materials company Lafarge Tarmac and two copper mines in Chile.

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