AngloGold Ashanti Stock

AngloGold Ashanti Limited (AngloGold Ashanti) operates as an independent gold mining company worldwide.

The company has a diverse portfolio of operations, projects and exploration activities across nine countries on four continents. While gold is the company’s principal product, it also produces silver (Argentina) and sulphuric acid (Brazil) as by-products. The company is developing projects in Colombia, including the Quebradona mine that is expected to produce both gold and copper, and continuing exploration activities in the United States.

Products

AngloGold Ashanti’s main product is gold. Once mined, the gold ore is processed into dore (unrefined gold bars) on site and then dispatched to precious metals refineries for refining to a purity of at least 99.5 percent, in accordance with the standards of ‘good delivery’ as determined by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA).

By-products of the company’s gold mining operations, often a function of local geological characteristics, include silver in Argentina and sulphuric acid in Brazil.

Operations

The company has developed a high-quality, well-diversified asset portfolio, including production from ten operations in seven countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Ghana, Guinea, the DRC and Tanzania) supported by greenfields projects in the United States and Colombia along with a focused global exploration programme. The company’s portfolio comprises long-life, operating assets with differing ore body types, located in key gold-producing regions around the world.

The company’s operations and projects are grouped regionally as follows:

Africa (DRC, Ghana, Guinea and Tanzania);

Americas (Argentina and Brazil, and projects in the United States and Colombia); and

Australia (Australia).

Projects

The projects in Colombia form a significant contribution to AngloGold Ashanti’s Mineral Resource with the three projects: La Colosa, Minera de Cobre Quebradona (Quebradona) and Gramalote, the latter of which is a joint operation between AngloGold Ashanti (50 percent) and B2Gold Corp. (B2 Gold) (50 percent). Mineral Reserve was declared for the first time at Quebradona in 2018.

During 2022, the company's project team in the United States integrated the Mineral Resource resulting from AngloGold Ashanti's acquisitions of Corvus Gold Inc. (Corvus Gold) and Coeur Sterling, Inc. (Coeur Sterling) using the company’s evaluation framework. AngloGold Ashanti acquired North Bullfrog and Mother Lode as part of the Corvus Gold acquisition in January 2022 and Sterling (which includes the Crown Block deposits of SNA, Secret Pass and Daisy) through the acquisition of Coeur Sterling in November 2022.

Colombia

AngloGold Ashanti Colombia has three greenfields projects: Gramalote, La Colosa and Quebradona.

The Gramalote project is a joint operation between AngloGold Ashanti (50 percent) and B2Gold (50 percent). The project is managed by B2Gold. It is situated in the Department of Antioquia, 124km northeast of Medellín.

The La Colosa project is wholly-owned and managed by AngloGold Ashanti. It is located in the Department of Tolima, 150km west of Bogotá, and 30km west of the major town of Ibague.

The Quebradona project is wholly-owned and managed by AngloGold Ashanti and comprises the Nuevo Chaquiro deposit, a significant copper-gold porphyry. The Quebradona project is situated in the Middle Cauca region of Colombia, in the Department of Antioquia, 60km southwest of Medellín.

Gramalote

Gramalote is a joint operation between AngloGold Ashanti (50 percent) and B2Gold (50 percent), with B2Gold being the manager. The property is an exploration stage project, with no Mineral Reserve declared. Gramalote is a semi-massive, superficial low-grade gold deposit suitable to be mined as a conventional open pit truck and shovel operation.

The Gramalote property is located near the towns of Providencia and San Jose del Nus within the municipality of San Roque in the Department of Antioquia in the northwest of Colombia.

La Colosa

La Colosa is wholly-owned and managed by AngloGold Ashanti.

Quebradona

The Quebradona project is wholly-owned and managed by AngloGold Ashanti and consists of the Nuevo Chaquiro deposit, a significant copper-gold porphyry. The Quebradona project is situated in the Middle Cauca region of Colombia, in the Department of Antioquia.

Australia (Australia).

Exploration

The company’s exploration programme focuses on creating significant value for its stakeholders by providing long-term optionality and improving the quality of its asset portfolio.

Greenfields and brownfields exploration takes place in both established and new gold-producing regions through managed and non-managed joint arrangements, strategic alliances and wholly owned ground holdings. AngloGold Ashanti’s discoveries include La Colosa and Quebradona (Nuevo Chaquiro) in Colombia and Silicon, North Bullfrog, Mother Lode and Sterling in Nevada, U.S.A.

United States of America (Nevada)

All projects are exploration stage properties wholly-owned by AngloGold Ashanti. The Silicon project is located approximately 12km east of the town of Beatty in Nye County, Nevada, U.S.A.

AngloGold Ashanti’s Rights and Permits

In Nevada, the company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries hold a significant number of unpatented mining claims on federal lands. The Silicon project consists of approximately 950 unpatented mining claims. The North Bullfrog project consists of 45 patented and approximately 1,600 unpatented mining claims (covering approximately 32,000 acres) situated in the Bullfrog mining district. There are also nine mining leases within the North Bullfrog project the majority of which continue in perpetuity so long as the company meets certain minimal requirements for use of the land. One mining lease is scheduled to expire in 2031. The Mother Lode project consists of 13 unpatented mining claims. The North Bullfrog and Mother Lode projects are now controlled by the company as a result of its acquisition of all of the outstanding stock of Corvus Gold Inc., which closed on 18 January 2022. The southern claim block, encompassing the Sterling mine and other properties in the same general area, consists of approximately 1,900 unpatented claims (covering approximately 35,000 acres), which are controlled by the company as a result of its acquisition of all of the outstanding stock of Coeur Sterling, Inc. (a subsidiary of Coeur Mining, Inc.), which closed on 4 November 2022. As a result of this acquisition, the company controls a past-producing mine site in southern Nevada known as the Sterling mine, which has one applicable mining lease that expires in 2029, with the option to extend the lease for an additional ten-year period. Although the Sterling mine is in care and maintenance status, it remains subject to complex permitting and regulatory requirements, including compliance with relevant provisions of the U.S. Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 and oversight by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

Strategy

The company has five key strategic focus areas, which enable it to deliver on its overall strategy, which is to create value.

By-Products

Several by-products will be recovered as a result of processing of the gold Mineral Reserve and copper Mineral Reserve. These include 0.29Mt of sulphur from Brazil, 21.9Moz of silver from Argentina and 28.1Moz of silver from Colombia. The Quebradona process plant has been designed to treat underground ore and to produce copper concentrate with provision of space in the plant site for a molybdenum plant in the future.

Research and Development

The company’s research and development expenditure included in the income statement amounted to $1 million during 2022.

Regulations

The company’s operating properties are located in the state of Western Australia where tenure is issued under, and mining operations are governed by, the Mining Act 1978 (WA). It is also conducting early stage exploration activities in Queensland under the Mineral Resources Act 1989 (QLD). In order to obtain an authorisation to carry out a mining project, a company must prepare an Environmental Impact Study (EIA) for approval by the National Environmental Licensing Authority of Colombia (Autoridad Nacional de Licencias Ambientales or ANLA).

History

AngloGold Ashanti Limited was founded in 1988. The company was incorporated in the Republic of South Africa in 1944.