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Mining giant executive director retires

2nd August 2013

  

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Mining giant AngloGold Ashanti reports that Tony O’Neill, who served as an executive director on the company’s board of directors, has taken early retirement, also relinquishing his position at the company as business and technical development executive VP.

O’Neill assisted the gold miner in settling AngloGold Ashanti’s new leadership team, which was announced in May. He worked for the company for five years, “providing the board and its committees, as well as the management team with a wealth of industry experience and technical capability”.

“Tony stepped in and played a vital role as acting joint interim CE earlier this year and helped make sure that there was a seamless transition at AngloGold Ashanti. As a board, we are very grateful for the role that he has played in leading innovation and exploration over the past five years, and we are sure that we will continue to reap the benefits of his work for many years to come,” says AngloGold Ashanti chairperson Tito Mboweni.

CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan (Venkat) notes that the company benefited greatly from having “one of the mining industry’s most gifted engineers and leaders” to help guide it through a challenging operating environment. “His input at every level has been greatly valued and he will be greatly missed,” he adds.

O’Neill joined AngloGold Ashanti in July 2008, with 30 years’ experience in the industry, where he had full accountability for a wide global portfolio, ranging from exploration, innovation and improvement, business development, project capital, asset management, business knowledge and information technology, supply chains and safety and the environment.

O’Neill was appointed as an executive director on February 20 and as joint acting CEO with Venkat with effect from April 1, following the resignation of Mark Cutifani as CEO on March 31.

AngloGold Ashanti recently reported a solid second-quarter operational performance with production of 935 000 oz, at a total cash cost of between $900/oz and $920/oz.

This is in line with market guidance of 900 000 oz to 950 000 oz, at a total cash cost of $900/oz to $950/oz.

Detailed operating and financial results for the three months to the end of June will be released in August.

“It’s been a strong performance in a challenging environment from our operators and from the teams developing our two new, high-quality projects,” Venkat noted.

“In light of the $220/oz drop in the average quarterly gold price, which will negatively impact on our second-quarter results, we’ve moved decisively on all fronts to sharpen our focus on efficiency and to tighten up on costs, overheads and capital.”

AngloGold Ashanti is the world’s third-largest gold producer, with 21 operations in ten countries and a portfolio of exploration assets.

In addition to its existing portfolio, two new mines – the Tropicana joint venture (JV) in Australia and the Kibali JV in the Democratic Republic of Congo – are in development and are scheduled to start production before the end of this year.

Together, these two projects are proceeding to plan and are expected to add, in 2014, attributable production of about 550 000 oz to 600 000 oz to yield a combined average total cash cost of less than the current average total cash cost.

AngloGold Ashanti is pleased to note comments made earlier this month by Kibali CEO Mark Bristow, of JV partner and operator Randgold Resources, that the operation may produce gold as early as October of this year.

AngloGold Ashanti continues to focus on safe, sustainable free cash flow generation by protecting margins and returns.

To this end, work is progressing on an initiative which aims to realise savings in both operating and indirect costs, as well as sustaining capital expenditure (capex) over the next 18 months. In light of lower and more volatile gold prices, capex is being focused on the group’s highest-quality assets, while curtailing spending or suspending operations at projects that may yield lower returns. In addition, it may seek partners for certain of its projects.

Exploration spending is also being reduced through a more tightly focused global drilling programme, and overhead costs are being rationalised significantly.

In line with its commitment to move decisively to remove marginal ounces from its production profile and to increase free cash flow generation, AngloGold Ashanti is revising its current mine plans.

Given this strategy and the prevailing gold price, AngloGold Ashanti’s yearly guidance for 2013 is now between 4-million ounces and 4.1-million ounces, which compares with previous guidance.

Meanwhile, using preliminary analysis based on revised forecast gold prices, AngloGold Ashanti expects to book, in its second quarter 2013 financial results, a charge of $2.2-billion to $2.6-billion after tax in relation to impairments and revaluation to net realisable value of its mining assets (including ore stockpiles).

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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