Anglo American today announces the details of wide-ranging measures that will sustainably improve cash flows and materially reduce net debt, while focusing the Group on its core portfolio of world-class diamond, platinum group metals (PGMs) and copper assets.
Anglo American today announces the details of wide-ranging measures that will sustainably improve cash flows and materially reduce net debt, while focusing the Group on its core portfolio of world-class diamond, platinum group metals (PGMs) and copper assets.
Anglo American will focus on competitive, long life assets with considerable organic growth opportunities that mine consumer-driven materials that are expected to benefit from long term growth trends as the global economy evolves and developing economies mature
The Group’s Coal assets have been identified as non-core and will continue to be actively managed for further performance improvement, with a view to making appropriate divestment decisions over time. All options for sale and divestment will continue to be evaluated and until any decision is made, all assets will continue to focus on safety, productivity and cost improvement performance and delivering value.
Coal CEO Seamus French said Anglo American’s Coal assets were highly attractive and believed that they would continue to prosper under new ownership that is well positioned to allocate capital to continue to create value.
“In Australia and Canada we have some of the best metallurgical coal assets and operating teams in the world and the decision to divest over time in no way reflects the quality of the portfolio or the high performing teams who have continuously delivered and performed to world-class standards,” Mr French said.
“We have already announced the intention to sell a number of the Australian assets including Callide, Dartbrook, Dawson, and Foxleigh - some of which already have conditional sales agreed.
“The remaining assets are now being evaluated for buyer interest. We will follow the usual sale process and it is our aim to sell the assets as going concerns to have minimal impact on our workforce.”
The Moranbah North, Grosvenor and Moranbah South assets in the Bowen Basin at Moranbah QLD will be sold as a package as one of the most significant, high quality metallurgical coal businesses in the world with a combined resource base of over half a billion tonnes as at 2014. The sale process is under way and is expected to take several months and early engagement with potential buyers has commenced.
Grasstree underground and Capcoal open cut mines in Middlemount, QLD will continue to be managed to further improve performance and we will consider options for exit at the appropriate time.
Anglo American’s Peace River Coal operation in Canada was placed on care and maintenance in 2014 and continues to be managed by Anglo American while assessing the most appropriate options for value over time.
Mr French said Anglo American’s New South Wales assets would be included in the divestment programme. Alongside the conditional sale of Dartbrook to Australia Pacific Coal announced in December 2015, Drayton and Drayton South will be assessed for sale.
“The devastating PAC decision in late 2015 to recommend Drayton South not be approved means that continuity of operations between Drayton and Drayton South is not possible and that mining operations will cease at Drayton during 2016.”
The asset sales will result in changes at the Brisbane corporate office and, as the portfolio changes, the central teams will be continually reviewed to deliver the required services to the asset base. This will not happen overnight and a number of core functions will continue to be needed to ensure operations are running safely and performing to plan.
“While we make our evaluations and prepare assets for sale, it is business as usual for our employees and our focus remains on safety as our number one priority.
“We expect the divestment processes to take time and will ensure we do so responsibly and respectfully and keep all relevant stakeholders informed as it progresses,” Mr French said.
The full Anglo American 2015 results and Global portfolio changes can be found on the Anglo American Group website: www.angloamerican.com
END – Media contact: Vanessa Davies, 0400 927 185
Notes to editors:
Anglo American is a globally diversified mining business. Our portfolio of world-class competitive mining operations and undeveloped resources provides the raw materials to meet the growing consumer-driven demands of the world’s developed and maturing economies. Our people are at the heart of our business. It is our people who use the latest technologies to find new resources, plan and build our mines and who mine, process and move and market our products – from diamonds (through De Beers) to platinum and other precious metals and copper – to our customers around the world. As a responsible miner, we are the custodians of those precious resources. We work together with our key partners and stakeholders to unlock the long-term value that those resources represent for our shareholders, but also for the communities and countries in which we operate – creating sustainable value and making a real difference.
www.angloamerican.com