Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Anglogold Ashanti shareholders on Friday voted in favour of the miner’s plans to switch its primary listing from Johannesburg to New York, the company announced, clearing the way for its exit from South Africa.
More than 98% of Anglogold shareholders approved the switch, exceeding the required majority of at least 75% at a virtual meeting held on Friday, the company said in a statement.
The proposed reorganization also includes the relocation of Anglogold’s headquarters to London from Johannesburg.
AngloGold, the forerunner of which was founded by industrialist Ernest Oppenheimer a century ago, completed the sale of its South African mines in 2020.
As the geological challenges of some of the world’s deepest gold deposits make mining in South Africa more difficult and costly, the company has shifted its attention to more lucrative mines in Ghana, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Australia and the Americas.
Anglogold CEO Alberto Calderon has said a primary listing in New York would give the miner access to the world’s biggest pool of gold capital.
(By Nelson Banya; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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