Anglo American, one of the world’s
largest mining companies, had its origins in the gold and diamond mines
of South Africa, and after the Second World War it expanded and
diversified to the point that it controlled large portions of that
country’s economy. It later sold off its non-mining businesses, moved
its headquarters to London, and spun off its gold mining operations into
the company now called AngloGold Ashanti. Anglo American remains a
major player in platinum, copper, coal and diamonds (through its
affiliate De Beers).
For decades, Anglo American was known as
the company that got rich from exploiting oppressed black miners within
the apartheid economy of South Africa. It has worked hard to change that
image, though it still has tense relations with mineworkers (especially
over safety issues) in its South African operations. The company has
also been at the center of controversy over environmental or human
rights issues in countries such as Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and Peru.
The Americas Region is an important
growth area for AngloGold Ashanti, with operations in Argentina, in
Brazil, and in the United States.The operations of Anglo American and
those of its spinoff AngloGold have been associated with environment
problems in numerous countries.
This is operations AngloGold Ashanti gold mines in world in Region American :
1. United States
Cripple Creek Victor mine
AngloGold Ashanti holds a 100% interest
in the Cripple Creek & Victor (CC&V) Gold Mining Company’s
Cresson mine, located in the state of Colorado. A surface mining
operation provides oxidised ore to a crusher and valley leach facility,
one of the largest in the world. Higher-grade ore with more sulphidic
properties will be processed in a carbon-in-pulp (CIP) mill to achieve
better recoveries. A two-phase mine-life-extension (MLE) project is well
underway and is expected to increase production significantly from
2015.
The Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine,
formerly and historically the Cresson Mine, is an active gold mine
located near the town of Victor, in the Cripple Creek mining district in
the US state of Colorado. It is the largest current producer of gold in
Colorado, and produced 211,000 troy ounces of gold in 2014. It was
fully owned and operated by AngloGold Ashanti through its subsidiary,
the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company (CC&V). In June
2015, AngloGold agreed to sell the mine to Newmont Mining Corporation.
The purchase by Newmont was completed in August 2015.
The mine is an open pit operation. The
gold is recovered from the ore by heap leaching. CC&V’s heap leach
pad is one of the biggest in the world. The mine has a visitor center
with displays about modern mining procedures, historical photos, ore and
core samples, and mineral uses. Visitors can tour the mine with advance
reservation through the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum in Victor,
Colorado.
2. Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia Mine
The Cerro Vanguardia Mine is a gold and
silver mine located 150 km north west of Puerto San Julián, in the Santa
Cruz province of Argentina., in which AngloGold Ashanti has a 92.5%
stake, and is the company’s sole operation in Argentina. Fomicruz, a
state company operating in the province of Santa Cruz, owns the
remaining 7.5%. Located to the northwest of Puerto San Julián in the
province of Santa Cruz, Cerro Vanguardia operates multiple small open
pits with high stripping ratios and multiple narrow-vein underground
mines. The metallurgical plant has a daily capacity of 3,000t and
includes a cyanide recovery facility.
AngloGold acquired the 46.25% Anglo group
interest in 1998–99 and the equal Perez Companc holding in 2002, then
merged with Ashanti Goldfields to form AngloGold Ashanti in April 2004.
Fomicruz has a 7.5% carried interest.Construction work started in 1997
and the first gold was shipped in 1998, close to schedule and budget.
The overall investment from exploration to start-up was estimated at
US$270m. The plant throughput rate has since risen from 1,800t/d to
2,700t/d. The operation employed 487 directly with a further 459 people
working for contractors in 2005. Capital expenditure for the year was
US$15m.
Cerro Vanguardia is mining the 17
structures by means of separate open pits, with three to five of these
working at any one time in order to achieve an optimal blend for
processing. Average stripping ratio over the 15-year mine life should be
15:1. Mining is conventional drill-and-blast, with a load-haul fleet of
medium-sized equipment including Caterpillar 988 wheel loaders.
3. Brazil
Córrego do Sítio Mineração (AGA Mineração )
AngloGold Ashanti Córrego do Sítio
Mineração (AGA Mineração ), which is wholly owned, comprises two
operational complexes located in the state of Minas Gerais, close to the
city of Belo Horizonte:
- The Cuiabá complex includes the Cuiabá and Lamego mines and the Cuiabá and Queiroz plant complexes. Cuiabá has been in operation for 29 years while Lamego is a more recently developed underground mine. Ore from the Cuiabá and Lamego mines is processed at the Cuiabá gold plant. The concentrate produced is transported 15km by aerial ropeway to the Queiroz plant for processing and refining. Total annual capacity of the complete Cuiabá circuit is 1.7Mt. The Queiroz hydrometallurgical plant also produces around 200,000t of sulphuric acid as a by-product, which is sold commercially on local Brazilian markets. The Cuiabá complex is changing its mining method from cut-andfill to sub-level stoping so as to increase the contribution of narrow-vein ore bodies to production (from 15% to 40%) and to improve rock engineering controls.
- The Córrego do Sítio complex comprises one surface (oxide) and two underground (sulphide) mines, as well as a heap leach pad and sulphide plant.
The Serra Grande Gold Mine is a gold mine
located is located in central Brazil in the state of Goiás, about 5km
from the city of Crixás. It is jointly owned by AngloGold Ashanti and
Kinross Gold Corporation, who are equal partners. The mine is operated
by AngloGold Ashanti but revenue is spread evenly between the two
companies.. It comprises three mechanised underground mines: Mina III
(the ore body IV), Mina Nova (the Pequizão ore body) and Palmeiras – and
an open pit in the outcrop of the Mina III ore body. One dedicated
metallurgical plant treats all ore mined. Annual plant capacity is
1.3Mt. The mine has enhanced the group’s production, Ore Reserve and
Mineral Resource profiles through the 100% ownership, making a positive
contribution toward AngloGold Ashanti’s near-term gold production
profile in Brazil.
3. Colombia
La Colosa and Gramalote
Two advanced major exploration projects, La Colosa and Gramalote,
are currently underway in Colombia. Extensive exploration activities
are also being conducted in the region, across a reduced mineral
tenement portfolio, by either AngloGold Ashanti teams or together with
joint venture partners. A significant portion of the year was devoted to
a third noteworthy Quebradona project area, releasing the maiden
resource for Nuevo Chaquiro deposit. Refer to the section Planning for
the future for further details.
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