South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti
(JSE:ANG) (NYSE:AU), the world’s third-biggest producer of the precious metal,
said the recent surge in bullion prices has not made it easier for the company to
sell the mines it has put up for sale.
“It’s a challenging market in terms of divestment because of speculation on potential assets coming into the market,” chief executive officer, Kelvin Dushnisky, said in a conference call on Thursday.
The company, which is streamlining its portfolio to ensure greater management focus and higher returns, has received “several bids” for the operations it wants to offload. Those include in Argentina (Cerro Vanguardia), Mal (Sadiola) and South Africa (Mponeng, the world’s deepest gold mine).
“It’s a more challenging market in terms of divestment, as opposed to years ago, because of speculation on potential assets coming into the market”
Chief executive officer, Kelvin Dushnisky.
Dushnisky, who took
the helm in September last year and previously served as the president and
executive director at Barrick, said there wasn’t a deadline for any
deals.
The executive’s comments come as AngloGold posted a 21% increase in interim earnings in the three months to June 30 on the back of solid performance from its Kibali joint venture, lower costs and a high gold prices.
Those factors, the miner said, helped counteract lower output in South Africa.
Obuasi in Ghana remains a strategic
priority for AngloGold, with work
continuing towards meeting a tight schedule of achieving its first gold pour at
the end of this year, it said.
One of the company’s best performing
mines in the quarter was Kibali, in Democratic Republic of Congo, which it
co-owns with Barrick Gold and state-owned Société Miniere de Kilo-Moto.
Geita (in Tanzania) and Tropicana (in
Australia) also contributed to the jump in profit, AngloGold said.
The company kept its 2019
production guidance of between 3.25 million ounces to 3.45 million ounces, as
well as expected costs and sustaining capital expenditure unchanged.