Scorecard 2010
| Objectives – 2009 | Progress – 2010 |
|---|---|
| Achieve longer-term tenor in the balance sheet | Received international investment-grade credit ratings from Moody’s and S&P in April 2010 which allowed the issue of $700m 10-year bonds and $300m 30-year bonds. Three-year mandatory convertible bonds for $789m issued in September. |
| Refinance revolving credit facility | Four-year, $1bn revolving credit facility secured with syndicate of 16 banks in April. |
| Opportunistically reduce hedge book | Hedge book eliminated on 7 October 2010, thus providing full exposure to the gold price for AngloGold Ashanti shareholders, and enhancing profitability and cash flow by ending discounted gold sales. |
| Roll-out Safety Transformation Project | Safety Transformation Project launched in Johannesburg in May, outlining the AngloGold Ashanti Safety Blueprint and Safety Framework. Twenty two Global Safety Standards have been signed off by the business, and the development of guidelines to support their implementation is under way. Concepts from the guidelines on Hazard and Risk Management and Incident Management have been embedded into the design of the Business Process Framework. |
| Accelerate Project ONE roll-out | Implemented at an additional 15 sites (mines and processing plants) in 2010, adding to the eight that went live in 2009. There are currently 145 people engaged in the roll-out of the programme and early successes at Geita and the Mponeng Plant were followed with encouraging initial successes at the more complex South African underground operations. |
| Reposition South African operations | Robbie Lazare appointed Executive Vice President: South Africa to lead the repositioning of those assets. A `three-horizon’ strategy was adopted to ensure their immediate turnaround, to optimise operating processes and the configuration of the assets; and to look to technological breakthroughs to secure their long-term future. |
| Continue operational recoveries at Geita, Obuasi | Geita continued on its upward trajectory, improving production by 31% and
reducing costs by 19%. The platform has been set for further gains in 2011.
Obuasi remains a challenge, with below-par development rates and ore-pass hang-ups affecting production and costs. Production was also affected by the suspension of operations in the first quarter in order to address water balance issues. Learning from the experience at Geita, a multi-disciplinary task team has been appointed to lead the recovery at Obuasi and create a strong foundation for this large, world-class gold deposit. |
| Entrench recoveries in Brazil and Argentina | AGA Mineração and Cerro Vanguardia entrenched their position as AngloGold Ashanti’s lowest-cost mines. Their expansions progressed after receiving approval from the board. |
| Ensure Cripple Creek & Victor recovery | A revised pad-stacking strategy, which saw higher-grade ore placed closer to the pad lining to improve production, yielded good results with the mine posting a strong recovery. As in South America, the base is set for expansion with studies under way to test the viability of installing a high-grade milling circuit to further boost production. |
| Progress projects through development pipeline | The board approved its first greenfield project in more than a decade with the go-ahead for the development of the Tropicana deposit in Australia. The development of the Córrego do Sítio deposit, in Brazil, was also approved, while prefeasibility studies progressed for the Gramalote project in Colombia, and feasibility studies for the Kibali and Mongbwalu projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were advanced. |
| Advance exploration targets | Conceptual studies and resource definition are under way at Boston Shaker and Havana Deeps targets in the Tropicana belt, La Colosa, Quebredona, Rio Dulce and Salvajina in Colombia, as well as Hutite in North Africa.
Drill testing is under way at Malrok and Kanosak in Canada, LaMbouli in Gabon and at the Vulu and Tango sites in the Solomon Islands. |
| Build Colombia’s resource potential | Drilling resumed at the La Colosa site in Colombia in August, bringing welcome progress to the gold industry’s most significant virgin discovery of recent times. |