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Anglo plays delaying tactics
Johannesburg - May 30 2005 - A lawyer for gold miners suing Anglo American after contracting respiratory illnesses while working for the mining giant, accused the company on Monday of deliberately delaying the case. Human rights lawyer Richard Meeran said Anglo American would seek further technical challenges to the miners' legal claim on Tuesday - nine months after the case first began in the Johannesburg High Court.
The claimants, who are mainly from Welkom, are seeking compensation for gold miners affected by silicosis and phthisis -- a combination of silicosis and tuberculosis.
"Anglo American is taking advantage of every technical legal defence to frustrate and delay this case," Meeran said in a statement.
"Their tactics are not illegal - Anglo are entitled to take these technical points if they wish but they are stressful for the miners and their families and are delaying justice to people who need urgent assistance."
The claims relate to employment at various mines which were owned until 1998 by the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa, a parent company which underwent a restructuring in 1999 that resulted in the shifting of its domicile to London.
At the same time ownership of the shares in these mines was transferred to Anglo Gold.
The statement said evidence showed that the Anglo American parent company was responsible for providing technical and medical advice to all its gold mining operations.
It said one of the nine claimants had died and the health of others had deteriorated since the case started.
Samuel Kokosa Kubu, 59, was retrenched on May 28 2001 after contracting silicosis. He had worked for nearly 40 years as a miner.
He died from lung disease including tuberculosis and silicosis on September 15 last year, two weeks after the legal action began.
They claimants are also seeking medical expenses.
"The ultimate objective being to establish a fund to monitor and treat occupational respiratory disease in former gold miners," the statement read.
Over the past 100 years gold mining in South Africa has been responsible for hundreds of thousands of cases of silicosis, the statement read.
Exposure to silica dust increases the risk of tuberculosis was known from at least 1913, it said.
"Dust standards at the mines were based on the assumption that 15% of the work force employed for 20 years would develop silicosis," Meeran said.
"On-site showers and change room facilities were not provided at the mineshaft for black workers to remove toxic dust from their clothes and bodies."
Edited by Adrienne Taylor
Anglo mulls new SA gold project
London - May 11 2005 - Anglo American plc is mulling a new gold project, the diversified natural resources company revealed on its website on Wednesday. Anglo American currently has 14 growth projects under review, which if approved would require $3bn of investment.
On Wednesday the company named gold project Moab 2 as an additional possible project, which hasn't yet been approved.
An Anglo American spokesperson declined to comment on the potential capital expenditure for the venture.
Moab 2 is the second phase of the Moab mine, located in South Africa. It has four million ounces of proven gold reserves.
Should it be given the go-ahead, it would be operated by the group's 51% owned subsidiary, world number two gold company AngloGold Ashanti.
The first phase of that mine, Moab Khotsong, contains 4.9 million ounces of gold and is expected to reach full production in 2008.
Since investor road shows in March, Anglo American has also sanctioned the $365m expansion of its South African Sishen iron ore mine, which will add 10 million tons per year of iron ore production.
Sishen is operated by 66.6%-owned subsidiary Kumba Resources.
Anglo defends risk perception
Johannesburg - March 17 2005 - Addressing the issue of controversy about Anglo American's (Anglo) judgement of political risk in South Africa, Anglo Chairperson Mark Moody-Stuart said in the group's 2004 annual report that "the problem was never our perception of political risk - but those of some people in the international capital markets."
In 2004, Anglo Chief Executive Tony Trahar made comments in a media interview about political risk in South Africa, which prompted an attack from President Thabo Mbeki in his weekly internet column.
"These concerns are largely the legacy of the leaking of an early draft of the mining empowerment charter in 2002.
"Confidence has been returning as this memory has receded and this will be given momentum by the successful conversion of 'old order' mineral rights," he said.
So far Anglo has made nine applications for mining conversions under the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti and platinum miner Anglo Platinum have both achieved the five-year equity target of 15% and AngloCoal is close to the 10-year target of 26%, Anglo South Africa Chief Executive Officer Lazarus Zim said at Anglo's 2004 results presentation.
Anglo expects that it will see conversions of some of its mining licences in South Africa in 2005, he added.
"We remain committed to South Africa and are strongly supportive of the agreed scorecard approach in the Mining Act and the need to deliver on it - hence our big continuing investment programme," Moody-Stuart said.
"To an extent I can share the frustration of the South African government.
"It has pursued exemplary macro-economic policies and deserves to have been rewarded with more foreign direct investment," Moody-Stuart said.
On Anglo's move into new geographies, especially China, Russia and India, Moody-Stuart said the group's gradualist approach, when entering new countries, gave Anglo a better feel for the operating environment in new countries.
In China, Anglo has small businesses in quarrying and drilling equipment and in Russia has a stake in Syktyvkar.
Record earnings for Anglo
Feb 23 2005 09:53:32:780AM
By: Justin Brown
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Johannesburg - Global resources group Anglo American (Anglo) on Wednesday reported headline earnings per share for its 2004 year of US188c, up 57% from 120c in the 2003, Anglo said in a statement.
The I-Net Bridge consensus of six analysts was for the group to report headline earnings of US188.5c. Forecasts ranged from 184.6c to 197c.
The group declared a total dividend per share for 2004 of US70c, up 30% from 54c in 2003.
The consensus was for a total dividend per share of US64c. Forecasts ranged from 61c to 70c.
Anglo reported headline earnings for 2004 of $2.689bn, up 59% from $1.684bn.
During 2004, Anglo generated cost savings and efficiencies of $554m.
The group's base and ferrous metals divisions saw a record performance during the 2004 year.
"The record results achieved by the group in 2004 reflect the transformation of our asset base into a focused global resources group over the last five years," Anglo Chief Executive Tony Trahar said.
"During that period, we have completed over $15bn of acquisitions and $9bn of disposals, creating a balanced portfolio of high quality natural resource assets and positioning the group to benefit from growing demand for our products," he added.
Global growth during 2004 was the highest for several decades, due both to the sustained recovery in the US and continued robust economic growth in Asia, in particular the ongoing industrialisation of China, which fed through into strong demand for many of Anglo's commodities.
Copper, nickel, zinc, coal and iron ore markets all benefited materially as a result and a number of these commodities reached their highest price levels for many years.
Of particular note was the strong performance by base metals, which recorded headline earnings of over $1bn on the back of record production of copper, nickel, zinc and mineral sands products and significantly higher base metal prices.
The outlook for the year ahead is very dependent on growth prospects for both OECD countries and China, Anglo said.
"While the leading indicators for the OECD currently point to some slowing of industrial output, China continues to grow strongly and will remain a vital market for many of our commodities," Anglo said.
"On the supply side, global output is generally set to increase and much will depend on the industry maintaining capital discipline in the face of higher commodity prices.
"A key challenge for the group will be to continue improving operating efficiencies and cost control against a background of volatile currencies and in particular a weak US dollar," the group added.
Miners continue health challenge to Anglo American
June 01, 2005
A legal battle involving former gold miners suing Anglo American Corporation over health-related issues will continue in the Johannesburg High Court this afternoon. The urgent motion was set down yesterday because of a congested court roll.
Claimants are seeking compensation for pain and suffering in a class action for having contracted silicosis-related illnesses. Silicosis is most commonly diagnosed in people after years of exposure to mining activities.
The legal action raises similar moral and legal principles to those that were pursued in the Thor Mercury Chemical, Cape Plc and Gencor cases
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