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Anglo American

AngloGold Upbeat on Africa Even as Mine Uncertainty Persists – by Felix Njini (Bloomberg News – May 8, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. remains upbeat on its African assets even as new mining rules threaten profits at two of the company’s key mines.

The world’s third-largest gold producer is mired in disputes with the governments of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo over law changes that raise taxes in the countries, where AngloGold gets the bulk of its African metal from. Still, those challenges will probably “eventually be corrected,” outgoing Chief Executive Officer Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan said.

“Storms do come and go – we have seen that happen in other jurisdictions, not just in Africa, even in Latin America,” Venkatakrishnan said in a phone interview.

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INTERVIEW-Vedanta chairman told Anglo not to sell South African assets – by Ed Stoddard (Reuters U.K. – April 30, 2018)

https://uk.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG, April 30 (Reuters) – The chairman of Vedanta Resources Plc, who is also Anglo American’s biggest shareholder, said on Monday he had convinced Anglo not to sell off key assets in South Africa.

Indian industrialist Anil Agarwal has an almost 20 percent stake in Anglo through his family trust Volcan Investments and has played down speculation that he is seeking a tie-up with Anglo.

But in an interview with Reuters, Agarwal made it clear that he has not been a passive shareholder. “I always believed that South Africa has a lot of potential, and Anglo management may not have always believed that … and they wanted to sell some assets,” he said.

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After setbacks, Anglo American counting on turnaround for Minas-Rio mine – by Alexandra Alper and Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.K. – April 17, 2018)

https://uk.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Two leaks in a month, a 90-day outage and $58 million in fines is not enough to temper Anglo American’s (AAL.L) ambition for its long-delayed, multi-billion dollar Minas-Rio iron ore mine in Brazil.

Purchased at the height of the commodities boom a decade ago for $5.5 billion, Anglo American was once counting on Minas-Rio to produce 26.5 million tons of iron ore by 2016. The mine’s strength is its high-grade iron ore that commands a premium as the world’s biggest commodity consumer China seeks to cut pollution.

Minas-Rio is Anglo American’s biggest development project, and its bet on the future of iron ore, but so far it only accounts for a small percentage of its overall profits as it is still in ramp-up phase.

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Anglo Says Cleaning Up Mining Will Earn It Billions in Profit – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – March 13, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Mining is a dirty business, but Anglo American Plc Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani says it doesn’t have to be. The miner of everything from copper to diamonds to iron ore is overhauling its sustainability targets, and predicts it can earn an extra $9 billion through 2030 by improving the way it mines and boosting relations with governments and communities.

In an industry that rips up massive areas of pristine landscape while consuming valuable water and pumping out dust and pollution, companies that don’t become better corporate citizens will face higher costs, mounting opposition and lose out on new deposits, Cutifani said in an interview.

“We need access to resources,” he said. “If you don’t have good relationships you don’t get access to ground; if you don’t have access to ground you can’t develop a mine.”

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COLUMN-For coal miners, it’s time to exit or get rich – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – February 25, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Feb 26 – It seems coal miners are adopting one of two disparate strategies, either exit the business in a highly visible way to buff up your climate credentials, or sit tight, keep as quiet as possible and rake in the cash.

An example of the public exit from the business is South32 , the Perth-based miner spun out of BHP Billiton which is in the process of selling out of its thermal coal assets in South Africa.

Mike Fraser, South32’s president and chief operating office for South Africa, told Reuters earlier this month that the company was aiming to sell its coal assets because it “did not believe in the commodity.” It would also be better if the coal mines were majority-owned by black investors, Fraser said.

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Leaner Anglo boosts earnings, but miner’s share rally stalls -by Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.S. – February 22, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Anglo American said on Thursday annual earnings rose 45 percent and net debt halved as the miner rebounded from a commodities slump and said it had become a fundamentally different business focused on productivity.

All the major miners have reported a recovery from the 2015-16 crash in commodities prices, announcing increased returns for shareholders and lower debt, while promising to avoid the spending sprees that piled on supplies and helped to end the last boom.

Anglo American and Glencore, which on Wednesday said its results were the strongest yet, saw their shares fall the furthest in the downturn and have rallied the most as commodity markets have recovered.

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Anglo Sees Momentum on S. Africa Policy: Africa Mining Update – by Thomas Biesheuvel, Felix Njini and Thomas Wilson (Bloomberg News – February 5, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Mining executives, investors and government ministers are meeting in drought-hit Cape Town for the African Mining Indaba, the continent’s biggest gathering of one of its most vital industries.

Recent multiyear highs for many commodities have the world’s biggest miners swimming in cash and new demand from electric vehicles mean once-overlooked metals like lithium and cobalt are grabbing the spotlight.

But it’s not all blue skies, as the industry grapples with regulatory changes and uncertainty in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, as well as host South Africa.

Here are the latest developments, updated throughout the day. (Time-stamps are local time in Cape Town.)

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Gahcho Kué adds vim to Anglo 2017 output numbers despite cuts – by David McKay (MiningMX – January 25, 2018)

http://www.miningmx.com/

ANGLO American turned in a robust fourth quarter production performance which took full year production on a copper equivalent basis some 5% higher compared to 2016, largely owing to good numbers at Kumba Iron Ore and De Beers, its 85% subsidiary.

Mark Cutifani, CEO of Anglo American, said the year-on-year improvement was despite cutting platinum and metallurgical coal output. “The ramp up of Gahcho Kué and Grosvenor mines made positive contributions to our production profile in 2017, and a strong performance from Sishen resulted in an 8% increase in production from Kumba Iron Ore,” he said in a statement.

Gahcho Kué is the De Beers’ newly commissioned diamond mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories. It reached nameplate production in the second quarter of the financial year.

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Amplats reaches deal with S.African tribal leader in community fund row – by Ed Stoddard (Reuters Africa – January 9, 2018)

https://af.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A South African tribal leader has agreed to a more transparent structure for a 175 million rand ($14 million) community trust funded by Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), a move that aims to curb unrest around the firm’s most profitable mine.

The changes relate to the Mapela Trust, which was set up to fund development projects in communities around Amplats’ Mogalakwena operation, the world’s largest open-pit platinum mine and the Anglo American unit’s main cash spinner.

The structure of the fund has proved a flashpoint, with local communities saying the way cash was spent has not transparent and too much authority was given to the local chief, known as Kgoshi, to determine where money was invested.

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Robots Will Run Mines Within the Next Decade, Anglo Says – by Thomas Wilson (Bloomberg News – November 29, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Some mines in the next decade will run without humans and instead rely on robots, virtual models and sensors, according to Anglo American Plc.

Anglo is betting on technology, such as computerized drills with “chiseling ability as good as a human” to increase productivity, cut costs and reduce environmental impact, Tony O’Neill, technical director at Anglo, said at the Mines and Money conference in London.

“The industry that everybody currently knows will be unrecognizable” in five to seven years, O’Neill said. With mining processes automated, Anglo’s “employee of the future” will only need to focus on managing the company’s relations with governments and communities that live near its mines, he said.

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Anglo’s Cutifani claims investors are wary of sector recovery – by David McKay (MiningMX.com – November 20, 2017)

https://www.miningmx.com/

VOLATILITY in the mining sector and the speed with which commodity prices have recovered since 2016 are deterring investors from buying mining shares, said Anglo American CEO, Mark Cutifani.

Responding to questions about the relative underperformance of mining shares this year during a conference held by Goldman Sachs, Cutifani said investors wanted more evidence of capital discipline from management. His comments were contained in a report issued by Goldman Sachs on November 16.

According to Goldman Sachs, mining companies have “… entered the harvest phase after a period of low capex, high prices and low costs translating into significant free cash flow, de-leveraging and the potential for significantly higher returns”. Since January 2016, shares Glencore and Anglo American are up 400% and 500% respectively.

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Anglo to halt Minas Rio in Brazil if expansion licence delayed further – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 20, 2017)

http://www.mining.com/

Anglo American (LON:AAL) will have to shut its massive Minas Rio in Brazil next year if authorities for the state of Minas Gerais, where the iron ore operation is located, further delay a licence needed to kick off a final and key expansion.

The miner, which has already been granted permission for a second phase at Minas Rio, has been trying for months to secure the environmental license for the mine’s third and last expansion, but has faced several roadblocks along the way.

Chief executive of Anglo American Brazil, Ruben Fernandes, told local paper Hojeemdia (in Portuguese) the permit was first expected in July this year, but ongoing requests from the state’s public prosecutor and the rescheduling of necessary public hearings have pushed the deadline to December.

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Mixed fortunes for Anglo’s copper, coal and nickel divisions – by Ilan Solomons (MiningWeekly.com – October 24, 2017)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diversified major Anglo American recorded increases in production at its copper units, while coal and nickel production decreased in the third quarter, ended September 30.

The company on Tuesday posted a 6% year-on-year increase in production on a copper-equivalent basis in the third quarter of the year. For the first nine months of the year, copper equivalent production had increased by 8%, while copper production increased by 5% to 147 300 t.

Production from the Los Bronces mine, in Chile, increased by 8% to 78 100 t. Anglo American stated that higher ore grades at the mine had been partially offset by the impact of a ball mill stator failure at the processing plant, which reduced throughput. Repairs are scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter.

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Billionaire Agarwal to Boost Anglo Stake by Up to $2 Billion – by Ruth David and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – September 21, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Anil Agarwal, an Indian mining billionaire, is buying 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) worth of additional Anglo American Plc shares, increasing his stake in the blue-chip British miner that’s benefited from a recovery in commodity prices.

Agarwal said Wednesday the purchase, which is the equivalent of about 9 percent, was a family investment and he doesn’t intend to make a takeover offer for the company, according to a statement. It comes on top of the 12.43 percent stake he’s built since an announcement in March that his Volcan unit was investing in the company.

The Indian tycoon, who is set to become the largest shareholder ahead of South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. after the purchase, offered to merge part of his mining empire with Anglo American last year, only to be rebuffed. The London-based mining group has been seen as a candidate for a potential breakup through splitting some of its South African assets from the global mining business.

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Indian billionaire Agarwal to be Anglo American’s top shareholder – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – September 20, 2017)

http://www.mining.com/

Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal is planning to increase its investment in Anglo American (LON:AAL) by as much as 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion), which would make him the biggest shareholder in the diversified miner.

The acquisition of further shares will be done through Volcan Investments Ltd., the family trust of Agarwal, who is the founder and chairman of Vedanta (LON:VED), India’s largest mining company.

The move could give Agarwal a commanding voice at Anglo American, the world’s fifth-largest miner by market value, which the businessman described earlier this year as “a great company with excellent assets and a strong board and management team who are executing a focused strategy.”

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