JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A separate spin-off listing of AngloGold Ashanti’s Australian assets was still “only a thought” and “not a plan”, AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mark Cutifani has told Mining Weekly Online.
Cutifani was responding to a report in The Australian newspaper about his meeting with members of the Australian investor community to test the waters for a spin-off Australian listing of AngloGold Ashanti’s Australian assets – and possibly also a similar arrangement at some stage for its Colombian assets.
The Business Spectator reported further that Cutifani had told The Australian that the listed unit could potentially provide an investment alternative to the ASX-listed Newcrest, a company currently in joint venture (JV) with South Africa’s Harmony Gold in Papua New Guinea.
“We think people are looking for an alternate investment to Newcrest,” Cutifani is quoted as saying, adding that AngloGold Ashanti’s Colombian assets might also be packaged into a separately listed entity.
However, Cutifani told Mining Weekly Online that his “passing comment” was about future possibilities and not firm plans.
“They took a passing comment about future possibilities and spoke as though it was a plan. This is only a thought, not a plan,” Cutifani said in a short-message-service response.
The news media quoted Cutifani as adding that any listings were unlikely to be executed until 2014, as the company targeted a lift in Australian production to one-million ounces with the potential addition of a third mine through exploration or acquisition.
“It’s very clear that some of the majors are struggling with their Australian positions and thinking through what they do. There may be opportunities there. But we’re not about to announce anything. In the Australian context we’ve got two good assets and we’re looking for a third,” Cutifani was quoted further as saying.
AngloGold Ashanti owns the Sunrise Dam gold mine in Western Australia, which produced just under 250 000 oz of gold last year and generated $385-million (A$372-million) in revenue, and is developing the Tropicana project, also in Western Australia, which is due for completion next year.
News of the mooted spin-off comes in the wake of striking miners at two AngloGold Ashanti mines returning to work after operations had been suspended over a pay dispute.
Analysts have for long attempted to persuade South African gold-mining companies to mitigate geographic risk by separately listing assets outside of South Africa.
Primarily listed and headquartered in Johannesburg, AngloGold Ashanti also has a secondary American Depository Receipt listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company has 20 operations in 10 countries on four continents, as well as several exploration programmes in both the established and new gold-producing regions of the world.
In 2011, it employed 61 242 people, including contractors compared with 62 046 in 2010, and produced 4.33-million ounces of gold compared with 4.52-million ounces in 2010.
Excluding JVs, the company generated $6.6-billion in gold income in 2011, up from $5.3-billion in 2010, and its 2011 capital expenditure amounted to $1.5-billion, up from $1-billion in 2010.
It has 75.6-million ounces of reserves and more than 230-million ounces of resources.
Its South African operations accounted for 32% of total group production during the first half of the year.
Prior to the latest dismissal process, 35 000 people were employed across AngloGold Ashanti’s South African operations, a figure inclusive of contractors and those working on two major capital projects.
The Vaal River region typically accounts for about 40% of AngloGold Ashanti’s South African gold production and all of the group’s uranium production, with the West Wits accounting for the balance.
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