TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – It doesn't make sense for a mining company to be serious about growth, without looking at possibilities in Africa, AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mark Cutifani said on Monday.

Cutifani, an Australian who joined AngloGold in September 2007 from Vale Inco, said he is becoming increasingly optimistic about the continent, which hosts around 30% of the world's mineral resources.

“If you are not talking about doing business in Africa, forget about mining. Go and do something else,” he told delegates at a BMO Capital Markets mining conference, in Florida.

“You have got to look for gold where you can find it.”

Besides its South African assets, Johannesburg-based AngloGold has mines in Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Namibia and Tanzania, as well as exploration property in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Despite ongoing uncertainty because of the mining contract review under way in the country, the firm plans to hold onto the DRC assets, Cutifani said.

“We've got a great piece of ground in the DRC, and we are long-term optimistic on the DRC,” he commented.

AngloGold is one of the companies that is still in talks with the government about potential changes to its agreement, but Cutifani said he is optimistic that "there won't be any major issues there".

The country needs “a bit more time, and a bit more of perseverance, and a little bit of support from those players like ourselves who are significant players in the region.”

AngloGold is watching the progress made by Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan at its Tenke Fungurume copper/cobalt project “with great interest”, Cutifani added.

To subscribe to Mining Weekly's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.