Shortly after taking the reins at the miner, CEO Kelvin Dushnisky made it clear that the group intends to divest from its SA assets in the yellow metal. He aims to have the deal completed soon.
angloGold Ashanti’s decision to sell its last remaining SA gold assets comes just over six months into CEO Kelvin Dushnisky’s tenure at the company since succeeding Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan. In other words, he made his mind up pretty quickly about where the group stood on SA.
“The industry generally in SA has not chosen the right time,” says Dushnisky about when assets ought to be sold. “They squeeze out the last ounce of value. Why then would someone buy an asset?” he asks finweek in an interview shortly after the group announced it would sell Mponeng which, with its nearby surface operations, is set to produce about 360 000 ounces of gold this year based on the annualised first-quarter numbers.
Quite how this divestment will proceed is hard to know, however. Dushnisky has targeted deal completion by the year-end – a target that has some analysts doubtful. At the time of writing, there are no obvious buyers except, perhaps, Harmony Gold which has already spent $300m buying Moab Khotsong from AngloGold in 2017.
Harmony declined to comment on market speculation it might be the natural buyer. It is worth noting, though, that it has R4.6bn in net debt at the last count and is facing questions about how to fund its 50% portion of Wafi-Golpu, a project in Papua New Guinea that is, for all intents and purposes, its future.
Denne historien er fra 23 May 2019-utgaven av Finweek English.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra 23 May 2019-utgaven av Finweek English.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
THE HEALTH OF SA'S MEDICAL SCHEMES
As the Covid-19 pandemic abates, finweek takes a look at the financial performance of some of the largest players.
The effect of Gilbertson's departure
With Ntsimbintle Holdings now the major shareholder of Jupiter Mines, it could change SA’s manganese industry.
Making money from music
Why investors are increasingly drawn to the music industry.
Conviction is key
Sandy Rheeder plays a critical role in Mukuru’s mission to open up financial services to the emerging consumer market in Africa through tailor-made technology solutions and platforms.
The post-pandemic toolkit
How CFOs can use technology to support growth.
Big city living exodus
Mini cities like Waterfall City and Steyn City are redefining city-style apartment living.
Big compact, big value
Handsome, with a hefty level of standard specification, the roomy Haval Jolion compact crossover is a great value proposition.
On barriers to entry
There are various ways in which a company or sector can achieve competitive dominance. They usually make for good investments.
Fear and greed in one index
To buck the trend, when markets are hot or cold, is a tough thing to do. However, it can deliver solid returns.
Africa's largest data centre facility coming soon
Vantage Data Centers plans to invest over R15bn for its first African data centre facility in Attacq’s Waterfall City.
