Anglo American has long been a leading player within the global mining market, with projects spanning its century of operations within some of the most valuable metal markets in the world including, copper, platinum-grade materials (PGMs), iron, diamonds and nickel. In South Africa particularly, its iron, diamond and PGM market has brought significant value to the company. These materials are vital to help develop the future of many industries and look to be vital in decarbonizing the global economy. Therefore, Anglo American is positioning its company to be a vital player building towards a decarbonized world as a global mining company passionate about building a cleaner, greener and more sustainable world.
Anglo American has been in operations across 26 sites in South Africa for many years, with vital mining projects focused primarily on the mining of diamonds, PGMs and iron ore. Across these sites, Anglo American is responsible for the exploration, planning, building, processing, moving and then marketing of its mining projects. Throughout all of these stages, Anglo American focused on unlocking the value of each metal deposit to deliver significant benefits to its customers, the local community and its stakeholders. Anglo American operations in South Africa have long played a key role in the country’s continued mining development over the last century since its founding in 1917.
One of the most significant operations under Anglo American in South Africa is the De Beers Group which is responsible for mining diamonds. Anglo American currently holds 85% ownership in De Beers Group, with the remaining 15% held by the Government of the Republic of Botswana. Through joint-venture operations with Ponahalo Holdings, De Beers’ operations span the Venetia mine in the Limpopo Province. The De Beers Group under Anglo American has long played a vital role across almost every part of the diamond pipeline from the initial exploration and mining of diamonds to the midstream operations including sales and technology, and then the downstream consumer-facing retail operations and research which extends beyond. Ultimately, De Beers is the world’s leading diamond company which has been operating in South Africa for more than 135 years. Today, its diamonds are considered to be some of the world’s finest and are now present in 16 markets around the world.
However, following press releases made in May 2024, Anglo American looks set to break up its diamond business, which would see De Beers divested or demerged. According to the press release, the separation of the company’s diamond operations is hoped to improve strategic flexibility for both Anglo American and De Beers and comes as part of a larger restructuring operation which aims to radically simplify the company’s portfolio of world-class assets and focus on copper, premium iron ore, and crop nutrients.
In a similar way to De Beers, Anglo American’s Chief Executive Duncan Wanblad announced that the “demerger of Anglo American Platinum is expected by mid-2025 and we have seen strong interest in our nickel business with the sale process well progressed”. Much like the separation of De Beers from Anglo American, the company also looks set to demerge its platinum subsidiary Anglo American Platinum, as well as its nickel operations.
Anglo American Platinum is the world’s leading primary producer of PGMs and provides a complete resource-to-market service. Through Anglo American Platinum, the company has been supporting the global potential for a hydrogen economy for quite some time, as it quickly recognised its role in enabling the shift to greener energy and cleaner transport for a more sustainable future. As the leading producer of PGMs, Anglo American Platinum mines materials for a variety of markets with a diverse range of applications across many industries. In South Africa, Anglo American Platinum has 75% ownership in the Mogalakwena mine and 49% ownership in the Bokoni mine delivering vital PGMs for the company. These projects remain vital to the future of a carbon-reduced society for Anglo American Platinum. However, following recent announcements made by Anglo American, the global company will be focusing its portfolio on copper primarily going forward which is widely used across the renewable energy industry as a vital metal for energy conduction.
Iron is also a key mining operation in South Africa. Much like PGMs, steel is used in a whole host of products, industries, and services, therefore, making it a crucial mining material across the globe. A key operation for Anglo American is in Sishen, South Africa, where there is the largest open pit mine in the world, boasting 14 kilometres in length and is at the centre of the South African iron ore business. With a 69.7% share in Kumba Iron Ore, the largest iron-ore mining company in Africa, Anglo American’s operations aim to provide its customers with high-grade iron ore to help, which they hope will aid its steel customers in achieving even tighter emission standards.
Anglo-American partnered with H2 Green Steel in 2023 to reduce carbon production across the steelmaking industry. The company announced in April 2023, that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swedish hydrogen and steel producer to work together on the advancement of low-carbon steel-making processes. They are currently undergoing a research and trialling period taking the premium quality iron from the Anglo American Kumba mines in South Africa (as well as iron from their other mines in Minas-Rio in Brazil) and taking them to H2 Green Steel’s Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) production process at its plant in Sweden.
As Anglo American sets itself up for the future, it has focused its portfolio through its Sustainable Mining Plan which sets out a series of goals that Anglo American aim to achieve in the coming years. These goals will help deliver a future where the company is contributing towards a healthy environment and supports communities so they can thrive, whilst building its reputation and trust as a corporate leader. This focus on sustainability has long been a key factor in Anglo American’s operations, as it has been operating with FutureSmart Mining™ strategies for many years which are designed to develop and deploy sustainable technologies to fundamentally change the way the company extracts and processes its products.
Consequently, sustainability is a crucial concern through all operations under the Anglo American name, in which they are aiming to become a responsible producer of diamonds, copper, PGMs, premium quality iron ore, steel-making coal and nickel. Chief Executive of Anglo American, Duncan Wanblad, said in a recent sustainability update press release that “With our diversified product portfolio, we are well-placed to responsibly deliver many of the critical metals and minerals the world requires to transition to a cleaner, greener world. Our commitment to being part of the solution begins in our own business by meeting our carbon neutrality goals, while recognising that partnerships are vital to deliver our shared endeavour of a low carbon future”. Therefore, Anglo American is committed to sustainable mining plans which work towards a healthy environment, whilst helping communities to thrive, build trust in their brand and position the company as a global leader for sustainable operations. As part of this, Anglo American plans on being carbon-neutral across all its operations by 2040.
By utilising these strategies, Anglo American continue to aim to improve the safety of its operations and produces major capital cost savings. This focus on protection, safety and savings has long positioned Anglo American as a globally diversified mining business home to a world-class portfolio committed to delivering the vital metals and minerals needed for a cleaner, greener and more sustainable world. With so much change on the horizon for the company in the next few years, we look forward to seeing how Anglo American will simplify its portfolio to continue to deliver resources vital to the establishment of a more sustainable future.
Add Comment