AngloGold Ashanti’s business strategy is
reviewed regularly to determine progress in its implementation against
the backdrop of a dynamic operating and regulatory environment. These
evaluations allow for tactical adjustments necessary to achieve the
ultimate goal of becoming “the leading mining company”. In a continuous
drive to be more efficient, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, Continental Africa
Region, has embarked on a process of identifying and isolating those
items that are surplus to current mining requirements. Given valued
relationship history with a large International Mining Business segment,
have decided to make these items available in the market on an Ex-Works
(INCOTERM 2000) Ex-Mine “For-sale” basis.
AngloGold Ashanti has six
producing mines and processing operations in five countries in the
Continental Africa region. Its operations in the region include Geita
and Siguiri. Iduapriem is an open-pit mine and its processing facilities
include a Carbon-in-pulp (CIP) plant. It comprises the Iduapriem and
Teberebie properties on a 110 square kilometers concession. The mine is
situated in the western region of Ghana, in the 70 kilometers north of
the coastal city of Takoradi and 10 kilometers southwest of Tarkwa.
Obuasi is located in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, 60 kilometers in the
south of Kumasi. Mining operations are primarily underground, to a depth
of 1.5 kilometers. Siguiri is a multiple open-pit oxide gold mine, is
AngloGold Ashanti’s sole operation in the Republic of Guinea. It is
located in the district of Siguiri, northeast of the country’s capital
Conakry. On surface, Siguiri’s gold processing plant treats about
998,000 tons per month.
AngloGold Ashanti has interests in
three gold mining operations in Mali, namely, Sadiola, Yatela and
Morila. It manages two of these operations, Sadiola and Yatela. The
Morila mine is situated southeast of Bamako, the capital of Mali. The
operation treats low-grade stockpiles while the plant has annual
throughput capacity of 3.7 million tons. The operations at Morila
involve processing of the stockpile which stood at 1.3 million tons. The
Sadiola mine is situated in western Mali, south-southwest of the
regional capital Kayes. On-site surface infrastructure includes 4.9
million tons per annum CIP gold plant. The Yatela mine is situated in
western Mali, north of Sadiola and south-southwest of the regional
capital Kayes. The Geita gold mine is located in the Lake Victoria
goldfields of the Mwanza region of Tanzania. The Geita gold mine is a
multiple open pit operation with underground potential and is serviced
by 5.1 million tons per annum CIL processing plant.
The Kibali Gold Mine comprises 10
permits covering an area of 1,836 square kilometers in the Moto
goldfields of the north-east DRC. The Kibali Gold Mine has a processing
operation capable of producing an average of 600 thousand ounces of gold
per annum by treating six million tons per annum (Mtpa) throughput. The
processing plant has a capability of process oxide and sulphide
material.
This is mining operations AngloGold Ashanti in CONTINENTAL AFRICA REGION :
AngloGold Ashanti has six producing mines
and processing operations – of which the group manages four – in five
countries in the Continental Africa region, following much activity in
2014 with the sale of the Navachab mine in Namibia, the transition to
limited mining at Obuasi in Ghana and the cessation of mining at Yatela
in Mali.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kibali Gold Mine
Kibali, which began commercial
production in October 2013 is steadily ramping up production. The mine
is adjacent to the town of Doko and 180km from Arua on the Ugandan
border. The project is co-owned by AngloGold Ashanti (45%), Randgold
Resources Limited (45%) and Société Minière de Kilo-Moto (SOKIMO) (10%),
a state-owned gold mining company. Randgold Resources manages and
operates the mine. It is expected that Kibali will be one of the largest
mines of its kind in Africa.
The project is a joint venture (JV) of
Rangold (45%), AngloGold Ashanti (45%) and Sokimo (10%). It is being
developed and operated by Rangold Resources.Kibali gold mine is located
within the Moto greenstone belt. The belt contains Archean Kibalian
volcano-sedimentary rocks and ironstone-chert horizons.The
volcano-sedimentary sequence comprises of sedimentary rocks, variety of
pyroclastic rocks, basaltic flow rocks, mafic-intermediate intrusions
and intermediate-felsic intrusive rocks.The gold fields at Kibali are
characterised by northeast and northwest trending faults. The gold
mineralisation is scattered throughout the region.It is mainly found in
volcaniclastics, coarse volcanicastics, sedimentary rocks and banded
ferruginous cherts. The mineralisation is believed to have occurred
structurally through quartz-carbonate alteration and pyrite.
Ghana
Iduapriem Gold Mine
The Iduapriem Gold Mine is an
open-pit gold mine situated 10 km south of Tarkwa, in the Western Region
of Ghana. The mine is owned by AngloGold Ashanti and consists of the
Iduapriem and the Teberebie operation, which were merged in 2000.
Iduapriem, which comprises the Iduapriem and Teberebie properties in a
110km² concession, is located in the Western Region of Ghana, some 70km
north of the coastal city of Takoradi and 10km southwest of the Tarkwa
mine. The mine is owned by AngloGold Ashanti and consists of the
Iduapriem and the Teberebie operation, which were merged in 2000.
Iduapriem is an open-pit mine and its processing facilities include a
carbon-in-pulp (CIP) plant.
Obuasi Mine
Obuasi Gold mine is located in
the Ashanti Region, approximately 60km south of Kumasi. Mining
operations have primarily been underground, to a depth of 1,500m.
Obuasi, located in the Ashanti region of Ghana 320 kilometres northwest
of the capital Accra, is a large, high-grade deposit with proven and
probable ore reserves (as reported by AngloGold Ashanti in their 2014
Annual Report) of 24.53Mt at 6.70g/t for 5.29Moz, part of a substantial
mineral resource base. In 2012, AngloGold Ashanti initiated a programme
to modernise the mine, principally by starting to develop a ramp access
that will ultimately run from surface to high-grade blocks of ore
underground. The ramp will supplement current vertical hoisting
infrastructure and help debottleneck the underground operation by
allowing for greater ease in transporting people and materials
underground, and transporting ore to surface. This is a necessary step
ahead of the envisaged transformation of the mine into a modern,
mechanised operation
At the end of 2014, AngloGold
Ashanti converted Obuasi to limited operations, ceasing underground
production, retrenching the workforce, but continuing to process
tailings and starting a feasibility study on the redevelopment of the
mine. Development of the decline ramp has continued over this period.
The development plan will build
on this feasibility study with the intention of establishing a more
focused, efficient, mechanised high-grade operation, and is expected to
take about four months to complete. If the development plan meets both
parties’ investment criteria, and assuming all other conditions are
satisfied, Randgold and AngloGold Ashanti will form a new joint venture
company.
Randgold and AngloGold Ashanti
will then be jointly responsible for funding the redevelopment of Obuasi
in line with the agreed development plan. A Randgold group entity will
be appointed as operator of the mine, and Randgold and AngloGold
Ashanti will appoint an equal number of directors to the board of the
joint venture company, with board and shareholder decisions to be
approved by both parties.
Randgold chief executive Mark
Bristow said “Obuasi is a world-class resource. We now have to see if
we can convert it into a world-class mine. We have a long history of
cooperation with AngloGold Ashanti and we look forward to working with
them again on charting a new course towards a viable future for Obuasi.”
AngloGold Ashanti has since 2012
effected a range of improvements to modernise Obuasi and – in line with
its strategy – has progressed a feasibility study as the critical next
step toward breathing new life into this important mine,” AngloGold
Ashanti CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan said. “Our partnership with
Randgold has proved successful for well over a decade in bringing value
from sustainable gold mining to all stakeholders and we believe that
pooling the extensive expertise and the capital of these two companies
will improve our ability to bring Obuasi’s world-class high-grade gold
deposit to account.”
Guinea
Siguiri Mine
Siguiri Gold Mine is a multiple
open-pit oxide gold mine in the relatively remote district of Siguiri,
around 850km northeast of the country’s capital, Conakry. The area has
significant potential for gold mining and has long been an area of
traditional artisanal mining. The gold processing plant treats about
30,000t daily. AngloGold Ashanti holds an 85% interest in Siguiri, with
the remaining 15% held in trust for the nation by the Government of
Guinea.The mine is located in the heart of an ancient gold mining
region, thought to have been known since the 13th century as the basis
of the Mandingo Empire. At its peak this empire controlled an area in
West Africa the size of the United States.
This concession is dominated by
Proterozoic Birmian rocks which consist of turbidite facies sedimentary
sequences. There are essentially two kinds of gold deposit that occur in
the Siguiri basin: laterite or CAP mineralisation and in situ quartz
vein-related mineralisation. The first appears as aprons of colluvial or
as palaeo-channels of alluvial lateritic gravel adjacent to, and
directly above, the latter.
The quartz vein-related
mineralisation is hosted in meta-sediments with the better
mineralisation associated with vein stockworks that occurs
preferentially in the coarser, brittle siltstones and sandstones. The
mineralised rocks have been deeply weathered to below 100m in places to
form saprolite or SAP mineralisation.AngloGold Ashanti had Mineral
Resources of 67.49Moz and Ore Reserves of 21.62Moz at 31 December 2009
in continental African region. Of these, Siguiri accounted for Ore
Reserves of 3.25Moz and Mineral Resources of 5.94Moz.
Mali
Morila Mine
Morila Gold Mine is a joint
venture between AngloGold Ashanti and Randgold Resources, which manages
the mine, and in which each has a 40% interest. The Government of Mali
owns the remaining 20%. Morila is situated 180km southeast of Bamako,
the country’s capital. The operation ceased mining operations in 2009
and currently treats low-grade stockpiles and marginal waste. The plant,
which incorporates a conventional carbon-in-leach (CIL) process with an
up-front gravity section to extract the free gold, has an annual
through put capacity of 4.3Mt. In 2014, 18.4Mt of material from the pit
and 3.2Mt of stockpile material were processed.
Sadiola Mine
Sadiola gold mine is a joint
venture between AngloGold Ashanti (41%) and IAMGOLD (41%). The
Government of Mali owns the remaining 18%. The Sadiola mine is situated
in south-western Mali, some 77km south-southwest of the regional capital
Kayes. Mining takes place in five open-pits. On-site surface
infrastructure includes a 4.9Mt per annum carbon-in-leach (CIL) gold
plant where the ore is eluted and smelted.
The mining operations comprise
the Sadiola main pit and four satellite pits. The plant was originally
designed to process soft oxide ore but was eventually modified to treat
hard oxides as well.Mining at the main pit now stands complete with
operations being carried in the third and fourth satellite pits situated
southeast of the main pit.
Expansion of the Mali-based gold mine”The Sadiola Mine is an open pit gold mine which has been operating since 1996 in Kayes, the capital region of Mali.”Operating for more than 15 years, the mine is scheduled to close between 2013 and 2015. However, a pre-feasibility study completed in 2009 to mine deep ore sulphides is expected to extend the mine-life by an additional six years until 2019.
Expansion of the Mali-based gold mine”The Sadiola Mine is an open pit gold mine which has been operating since 1996 in Kayes, the capital region of Mali.”Operating for more than 15 years, the mine is scheduled to close between 2013 and 2015. However, a pre-feasibility study completed in 2009 to mine deep ore sulphides is expected to extend the mine-life by an additional six years until 2019.
Yatela Mine
Yatela Gold mine is situated 25km
north of Sadiola. Yatela is 80% owned by the Sadiola Exploration
Company Limited, a joint venture between AngloGold Ashanti and IAMGOLD,
giving each a 40% stake. The balance of 20% is owned by the Government
of Mali. Mining excavation activities have been suspended. Processing of
the heap leach pads and ore already mined will continue until the end
of 2016. Ore extraction in most of the open pits has been completed and
the mine has begun closure and rehabilitation procedures.
Tanzania
Geita Mine
Geita gold mine is located in
northwestern Tanzania, in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza
Region, about 120km from Mwanza and 4km west of the town of Geita
Continental Africa region. And Geita Mine were one of flagship mines.
The Geita gold deposit, which is currently mined as a multiple open-pit
operation, has underground potential and is currently serviced by a
5.2Mt per annum carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing plant. While Geita
generates its own power, the operation of its power generating facility
is outsourced and fuel is delivered by road.
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