Anglo American (LON: AAL) is speeding up its exit from thermal coal as it announced on Thursday it planned to spin off its South African unit within the next three years.
Mounting pressure from investors, regulators and environmental organizations has pushed miners to either sell coal assets or to limit their exposure to the fossil fuel in recent years.
The diversified miner, which has consistently been offloading coal operations since 2014, said the possible demerger of the South African coal operations was its preferred option. Anglo American did not rule out other options, such as a trade sale.
Chief executive officer Mark Cutifani said in February that the company was working towards exiting coal, but didn’t provide further details.
“We believe that the long-term prospects of our thermal coal operations in South Africa may be best served under different ownership,” Anglo said in a written response to shareholder questions posted Thursday.
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