AngloGold Ashanti To Shed 2 000 More Employees

The restructuring will affect employees across the different categories and levels, including the region’s executive committee and senior management.

The company made the decision to restructure its cost base to match and support a smaller operating footprint in South Africa, the company said in a statement.

In June last year, the world’s third-largest gold mining company signalled to stakeholders, through its first quarter market update, that the restructuring of the asset portfolio in South Africa was still underway to ensure that both the on and off-mine cost structures were appropriate for the size of the smaller production base.

AngloGold Ashanti reduced its production in South Africa by about 50%, through the sale of the Kopanang and Moab Khotsong Mines in February, and the closure of the TauTona mine announced late last year. The company’s remaining South African assets now include the Mponeng underground gold mine, and a surface operation.

The company indicated that all-in costs of the South African business in the first quarter of this year was $1 361, compared to a gold price of only $1,330/oz during that period.

The consultation with organised labour groups, facilitated by the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, will be aimed at safely ensuring the overall viability of the company’s remaining assets in South Africa, while minimising job losses to the greatest extent possible, said the company.