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Anglo American

Anglo American output held back by Chile drought, diamond weakness – by Shanima A and Noor Zainab Hussain (Reuters U.S. – Janaury 23, 2020)

https://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Anglo American (AAL.L) said on Thursday that water shortages at its Los Bronces mine in Chile had weighed on the global miner’s copper output in the fourth quarter, while rough diamond production was hurt by a softer global market.

The miner, however, reported a 4% rise in total production for the final quarter of 2019 as it ramped up output from its Minas-Rio iron ore mine in Brazil. It had reported a 7% increase in total production on a copper equivalent basis for the fourth quarter of 2018.

Copper production for the latest quarter dropped 13% to 159 kilo tonnes (kt) and output from the Los Bronces mine slumped 28%, hurt by the drought in Chile.

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A $4 Billion Mine Was Meant to Lift Northern England. Instead Locals Lost Big – by Ronan Martin and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – January 21, 2020)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Anglo American Plc’s plan to buy a giant potash project overlooking England’s North Sea is a bittersweet twist for local residents.

The deal will ensure billions of dollars of investment in the downtrodden region of North Yorkshire. But people like Neil Trillo, one of the thousands who bought shares in project owner Sirius Minerals Plc before it ran out of money, have been left counting their losses.

“It was a bit of a local dream,” Trillo said from behind the counter of his coffee stand in the seaside town Whitby. “Get involved with something local, something on the doorstep with a hundred-year plus tenure. That’s what was sold to investors.”

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Green Is The New Black For The World’s Biggest Mining Companies – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – January 14, 2020)

https://www.forbes.com/

The “greening” of the world’s biggest mining companies is accelerating with a rush into environmentally benign material, such as potash, a high-value fertilizer, matched by an exit from the most polluting of minerals—coal.

Global miner Anglo American flagged its renewed interest in fertilizer with a proposal last week to acquire a troubled British potash-project developer, Sirius Minerals, which is developing the Woodsmith mine in Yorkshire, in the U.K.

If successful, the $500 million takeover would mark a return to fertilizer three years after Anglo American sold a phosphate business as part of a company-wide clean up.

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Mark Cutifani, mining boss who extracted Anglo American from crisis – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – January 10, 2020)

https://www.ft.com/

When Anglo American announced plans this week to rescue a huge UK mining project, its straight-talking chief executive Mark Cutifani was conspicuous by his absence.

Instead, it was chief financial officer Stephen Pearce who explained why Anglo had offered £386m to buy Sirius Minerals, the company struggling to develop a giant potash mine under the North York Moors.

That would be unthinkable at many miners but not at Anglo, which has experienced a remarkable change in fortunes since Mr Cutifani, who exudes an easy Australian charm, took the helm in 2013.

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Anglo American Seeks to Buy $3.8 Billion U.K. Potash Mine – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – January 8, 2020)

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Anglo American Plc has moved to buy a giant U.K. potash mine that was running out of money, adding another major growth project for the century-old miner.

The deal for Sirius Minerals Plc is likely to secure 1,200 jobs and save the development of a mine in one of the U.K.’s most economically deprived areas. It’s also a further sign that Anglo is committed to growing its business — adding a second major project to its Peruvian copper-mine development — at a time when most rivals are reluctant to expand.

Anglo said it’s in advanced talks with Sirius about a possible 5.5 pence-a-share offer that values the company at about $508 million. While that’s a premium of 34% on Sirius’s closing share price on Jan. 7, the company was worth more than $2.3 billion 18 months ago, before its funding plans dried up.

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Another Big Mining Company Coal-Free Future – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – November 12, 2019)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here. Anglo American Plc dropped another hint that its days of mining the world’s most polluting fuel are limited.

In a slew of presentations released for an investor visit to Anglo assets in Australia, thermal coal was noticeably absent from a list of units seen to have long-term potential. The company is on a trajectory away from thermal coal, and will do so responsibly, an Anglo spokesman said.

Anglo will decide in the next year if thermal coal fits into its future portfolio, and may be better off selling the assets, RBC Capital Markets said in a note following the presentations.

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OPINION: BHP approach to Anglo CEO signals end of Mackenzie era is nearing – by Stephen Bartholomeusz (Sydney Morning Herald – September 26, 2019)

https://www.smh.com.au/

Reports that miner BHP has approached Anglo American’s chief executive to sound him out as Andrew Mackenzie’s successor signals that the end of the BHP chief’s six-year tenure is now close.

Bloomberg has reported that BHP has contacted Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani twice this year but so far has been rejected. Cutifani, an Australian, has been the chief executive of Anglo since 2013 and is credited with a massive turnaround of a group that was in crisis when he was appointed.

BHP doesn’t comment on its succession planning but it has become increasingly apparent that the process – which is a long-term and continuous one – has been intensifying this year.

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BHP Approached Anglo American Chief Mark Cutifani for CEO Role – by Thomas Biesheuvel and David Stringer (Bloomberg News – September 25, 2019)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — BHP Group has talked to Anglo American Plc Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani about running for the top job at the company, according to people familiar with the matter.

BHP made the approaches earlier this year and again more recently, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the process is confidential. Cutifani rebuffed the company’s advances so far, they said. BHP favors an internal hire, but also wants to speak with external candidates, the people said. Spokesmen for Anglo and BHP declined to comment.

Cutifani has said in previous interviews he planned to stay until Anglo finished its $5 billion Peruvian copper project Quellaveco, which may start production in 2022, by which time he will be in his mid-60s.

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Anglo Plans $1 Billion Buyback After Bumper Iron Ore Profit – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – July 25, 2019)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Anglo American Plc plans to buy back up to $1 billion of shares after the diversified miner reaped bumper profits from its iron ore business, more than offsetting declines in diamond and copper.

Anglo is the first to report earnings among the handful of giant miners that produce iron ore and investors have been preparing for big windfalls. The steelmaking ingredient surged to the highest in more than five years after a deadly Brazilian dam collapse and operational setbacks in Australian caused a supply shock.

The buyback represents a shift for Anglo, which has been focused on repairing its bruised balance sheet and investing in growth while the world’s biggest producers handed massive amounts of money back to shareholders in recent years. The company’s net debt stands at $3.4 billion.

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Platinum Giants Bolster Positions Before Wage Talks Begin – by Felix Njini (Bloomberg/Yahoo – July 8, 2019)

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — When the world’s biggest platinum miners sit down to hammer out a wage deal with one of South Africa’s most militant labor unions this week, they’ll hold two potentially winning cards in reserve: the cash and metal stockpiles to endure a strike.

Those buffers may prove crucial as Anglo American Platinum Ltd., Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. and Sibanye Gold Ltd. meet with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union on successive days from July 9.

While the producers will be conscious that AMCU led the country’s longest ever platinum mining strike in 2014, none can meet its demand for a pay increase of as much as 48% without undermining their businesses.

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Mineweb: Anglo’s seen the future of mining, and it looks a lot like farming – by Ciaran Ryan (Money Web.com – June 24, 2019)

https://www.moneyweb.co.za/

The sector has to clean up its act while still making a profit – and it’s a race the group intends to win.

Addressing analysts in London recently, Anglo technical director Tony O’Neill outlined a vision of the future where mines will be similar to farms.

Virtually all mining activity, including the extraction of minerals, leaching and processing will take place below ground. Rock cutting will be done without vibration and only material of value will be brought to the surface. No more convoys of trucks or surface conveyor belts delivering material to the processing plant, no more mechanical shovels scarring the countryside.

On the surface, you may see green fields, cows, and perhaps a wind turbine or two and some solar panels. Surplus power generated by the mines will be supplied to local communities. Exploration will be done by satellite and minimal use made of water. Perhaps even no water at all.

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Mineweb: Anglo American through the ages – by Ciaran Ryan (Money Web.com – June 13, 2019)

https://www.moneyweb.co.za/

It launched South Africa’s industrial age to support its mining activities, but since 2012 has halved the number of its assets. Where to now?

When the EFF’s Julius Malema talks of white minority capital, he is referring of course to Johann Rupert and the Oppenheimers for the most part. These are the families that helped build South Africa and, for better or worse, guided its political discourse in a direction favourable to their business interests.

Anglo American founder Ernest Oppenheimer would be hard put to recognise the group he founded in 1917. By the 1980s it accounted for a staggering 25% of SA’s GDP and owned an estimated 60% of the JSE – the result of an international embargo that forced SA companies to reinvest profits locally, turning the JSE into an incestuous and distended bubble.

The group that built its castle on diamonds and gold in southern Africa is now a very different animal. Since 2012, it has halved its number of assets, but now delivers 30% more product from each retained asset.

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The Global Diamond Glut Worsens – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg/Yahoo Finance – May 21, 2019)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here.

De Beers’s diamond sales plunged to the lowest since 2017 in the company’s latest offering, underlining a slump in the industry worldwide.

Sales by the Anglo American Plc unit dropped 25% from a year ago to $415 million, and were down 29% from an offering last month. It’s often a quieter time of the year because the industry has already restocked after the key holiday period, but total sales so far in 2019 are still much weaker than in previous years.

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‘Require, Not Ask’ for Women in Mining, Urges Ex-Anglo Chief – by Krystal Chia (Bloomberg News – May 9, 2019)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Mining is not only for men. Companies have to do more to push gender diversity, according to Cynthia Carroll, former chief executive officer of Anglo American Plc.

“Companies should require, not ask that executives promote, recruit and include women,” Carroll said in an interview on the sidelines of a conference in Singapore. Heading the miner from 2007 to 2013, Carroll was Anglo American’s first female chief executive, and now sits on the boards of a few companies, including Hitachi Ltd.

Mining remains male-dominated. In a survey of 30 companies, the Responsible Mining Foundation found “little or no evidence of efforts” to strengthen the gender balance of their leadership and governance teams.

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Big Four miners languish amid demand, ESG, capex concerns – by Barbara Lewis and Simon Jessop (Reuters U.S. – May 8, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – The world’s biggest diversified miners have yet to see their share prices reflect their role as providers of the minerals needed for a shift to a low-carbon economy.

Mining companies provide minerals such as cobalt used in electric vehicle batteries and copper for increased electrification, and the sector’s balance sheets are in rude health.

Still, many investors are wary. Concerns include the demand outlook from China, the world’s biggest consumer of metals; the sector’s history of wasting shareholders’ money on mergers and acquisitions that never deliver returns; and a patchy record on environmental, social and governance-related (ESG) issues.

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