Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) CEO Natascha Viljoen has resigned after almost three years at the helm of the precious metals group, a surprise move that sent its shares tumbling.
Viljoen, who will stay in the post for up to 12 months, joined the R300bn-plus company in 2020, breaking the mould. She became the first female CEO of Amplats, which traces its roots to the discovery of the world’s largest platinum reserves in the Bushveld complex in the North West in the 1920s.
Shares in the company, which is a subsidiary of Anglo American, slumped on the news before trimming the losses to close 5.2% lower.
Viljoen, who will become the COO of US-based mining company Newmont, will leave Amplats in the middle of preparing the expansion of its flagship Mogalakwena mine in Limpopo.
Under her leadership, shares in Amplats have gained more than 54% but lagged behind the more than 145% surge in its closest rival, Impala Platinum. The stock also underperformed the JSE all share index.
“While I have identified the next phase of my career, my commitment to delivering our clear objectives during this year is as firm as ever, beginning, of course, with keeping our people safe, every day,” Viljoen said.
Newmont, which produces gold, copper, silver, zinc and lead, has operations that run from South America, Australia and North America to Africa.
Leadership
“Natascha has shown outstanding leadership, transforming technical processing capabilities at Anglo American and we are excited to have her join the Newmont executive leadership team,” said Tom Palmer, Newmont president and CEO.
“Natascha will further strengthen our leadership capabilities as we continue to build a resilient and profitable future for the company … and continuing to differentiate Newmont as the recognised leader for sustainable and responsible gold mining.”
The announcement of Viljoen’s appointment comes just a week after Newmont confirmed it has submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire 100% of the issued share capital of Newcrest Mining, the largest gold producer listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and one of the world’s largest gold mining companies.
If the deal goes through, it will merge two of the sector’s top senior gold producers.
Amplats chair Norman Mbazima said the search for Viljoen’s successor has begun.
The miner warned on Monday that its profit could more than halve because of lower platinum group metal (PGM) sales volumes in the 12 months to end-December, with headline earnings expected to drop by 33%-52% year on year to R38bn-R53bn.
This comes as PGM sales volume declined by 26% and the same period in 2022 benefited from an increase in refined production, resulting in a drawdown in PGM ounces in 2023.
With Tiisetso Motsoeneng and Kabelo Khumalo
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