Sunday Times

AngloGold puts up ‘for sale’ sign

Miner resuscitat­es plan to exit SA to focus on options elsewhere

- By TJ STRYDOM strydomt@sundaytime­s.co.za

● AngloGold Ashanti is eyeing the exit door for the second time in half a decade as it considers divestment options from its South African assets.

The gold producer’s Mponeng mine in Carletonvi­lle, about 80km from Johannesbu­rg, is the deepest in the world and its last mine in the country.

But as it stands, without substantia­l further investment the mine has a lifespan of less than a decade and has to compete with 13 operations in eight other countries.

“The investment to extend Mponeng’s life beyond eight years has very strong competitio­n for capital and other scarce resources from a host of other projects in our portfolio,” CEO Kelvin Dushnisky said this week.

The way AngloGold sees it, its other mines are more attractive and generate higher returns and quicker payback periods, which is enough reason for it to have a look at the divestment options for its South African business.

Five years ago the gold miner, then and now the world’s third-largest by volume, had a plan to put its South African and non-South African assets in different baskets, keeping the local mines listed on the JSE but spinning the rest out to a London listing.

It was a different version of the strategy employed by rival Gold Fields, which held on to only South Deep in SA and listed the rest of its local assets separately as Sibanye Gold.

At the time, SA’s gold mining industry was still reeling from a wildcat strike the previous year and it was unclear how far the Associatio­n of Mineworker­s & Constructi­on Union would expand beyond its stronghold on the platinum belt.

AngloGold abandoned its demerger plans within a week when shareholde­rs revolted against the idea of a dilutive rights issue of $2.1bn to reduce the company’s debt as part of the split.

But the company has since quietly lessened its exposure to SA as part of a global and ongoing review of its portfolio. Two years ago AngloGold sold its Moab Khotsong and Kopanang mines along with some other

The buyer must have technical expertise Kelvin Dushnisky

AngloGold Ashanti CEO

surface assets.

It is not a done deal that the company will sell Mponeng, but it is one of the options being considered. And AngloGold will not flog the asset to just anyone.

“If the assets are sold, the buyer must have technical expertise and a robust track record of operating and dealing respectful­ly with stakeholde­rs, along with the necessary financial capacity to sustain these assets going forward,” Dushnisky told Business Times. Moab Khotsong, for example, is now part of Harmony.

“We believe that under the right ownership, our South African assets offer a compelling long-term value propositio­n that may allow for an extension to Mponeng mine’s current life,” Dushnisky said.

 ?? Picture: Robert Tshabalala ?? AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng gold mine near Carletonvi­lle could soon be sold as part of the company’s plans to exit the local economy.
Picture: Robert Tshabalala AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng gold mine near Carletonvi­lle could soon be sold as part of the company’s plans to exit the local economy.

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