AngloGold Ashanti has placed Córrego do Sítio (CDS), its marginal mine in Brazil, under care and maintenance in a decision that forms part of a wider shake-up of its global portfolio.
“The mine has been unable to sustain itself or to fund the capital needed to ensure its long-term future,” AngloGold said in a statement on Friday.
The decision is part of a strategy adopted by the word’s fifth-biggest gold producer 15 months ago to review and optimise its sprawling portfolio spanning Africa, the Americas and Australia.
CEO Alberto Calderon is looking to improve productivity and reduce production costs as a way of catching up with global peers.
AngloGold said the CDS mine has been characterised by poor production and costs that remain above the prevailing gold price for a while.
The mine produced 30,000 ounces in the six months ended June at an
all-in sustaining cost of $3,031/oz, while its cash outflow was $30m in the same period.
In 2022, the value of the CDS mining complex was written down by $189m, along with the Cuiabá mining complex and the Serra Grande mine, also in Brazil.
AngloGold also announced the appointment of Richard Jordinson as COO from October 1.
Jordinson is an industry veteran with 38 years of experience and has been with AngloGold since 2012, occupying various senior roles.
He has a track record of bringing new operations into production on time and on budget and overseeing complex transitions to underground mining, according to AngloGold.
Among many of his achievements, he led AngloGold’s largest producing asset — Geita Gold Mine in Tanzania — where he was a general manager for four years. During the period, Geita successfully transitioned to underground production across three separate mining fronts and established a new open pit mine at Nyamulilima and almost doubled mining reserves.
Throughout that transition Geita was AngloGold’s safest operation, breaking all previous records and winning the AGA Global Safety Award for three straight years.
Jordinson will replace Marcelo Godoy, who has been the interim COO since July after the retirement of Ludwig Eybers.
AngloGold no longer has operations in SA after selling its Mponeng mine to Harmony Gold in 2020, ending an era with SA that dates back more than a century when it was part of the Anglo American stable.
Just over a week ago, its shareholders overwhelmingly (98%) backed its plan to move its primary listing from the JSE to New York, where it’s looking to attract a larger investor base and narrow the market valuation gap between itself and Northern American rivals.
The New York Stock Exchange is home to two of the world’s biggest bullion miners, Barrick Gold and Newmont Corporation, as well as some of the biggest gold mining exchange traded funds.
It has also relocated its headquarters to the UK from Johannesburg, which was founded on the discovery of gold years ago.
At close of trade on the JSE on Friday, its share price was 1.1% weaker at R322.01, giving AngloGold a market valuation of R137.7bn.
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