Australasia Mike Erickson, Senior Vice President – Australasia, Discusses Anglogold Ashanti’S Australasian Operations and Exploration Programme
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AngloGold Ashanti Annual Financial Statements 2009 Review of operations Australasia Mike Erickson, Senior Vice President – Australasia, discusses AngloGold Ashanti’s Australasian operations and exploration programme Podcast available at www.aga-reports.com/09/podcasts.htm Contribution to group production Australasia 9% Rest of AngloGold Ashanti 91% Darwin Brisbane Laverton Kalgoorlie Perth Sydney Tropicana Adelaide Canberra N Melbourne Australia Operations Sunrise Dam 401,000 oz Exploration Locations on maps are for indication purposes only. P90 AngloGold Ashanti Annual Financial Statements 2009 AngloGold Ashanti’s sole operating asset in Australasia is Sunrise Dam. The group also has an extensive exploration programme under way in Australasia, the most advanced of which is Tropicana, a joint venture in which AngloGold Ashanti holds 70% and the Independence Group NL has 30%. Tropicana is managed by AngloGold Ashanti and covers 13,500km2 of tenements. This project is the focus of the group’s exploration activities in Australasia. Exploration in the Australasia region is also currently being conducted in the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. Further information on the progress being made here is presented in the Exploration review on page 114 of this report. In January 2009, AngloGold Ashanti agreed to sell its 33.33% interest in the Boddington project in Australia to joint venture partner, Newmont Mining Corporation. This project is therefore not covered in this report. The Australasian operation produced 401,000oz of gold in 2009, equivalent to 9% of total group production. Australia For information on the regulatory environment and licence to operate in Australia, refer to the section entitled Regulatory environment enabling AngloGold Ashanti to mine on page 142 of this report. Sunrise Dam Description The Sunrise Dam gold mine is located in the northern goldfields of Western Australia, 220km northeast of Kalgoorlie and 55km south of Laverton. The mine consists of a large open pit which is now in its thirteenth year of operation, and an underground mine which began operations in 2004. Mining at both operations is conducted by contractors and the ore mined is treated in a conventional gravity and carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing plant which is owner-managed. Key statistics Sunrise Dam 2009 2008 2007 Pay limit (oz/t) 0.08 0.09 0.06 (g/t) 2.45 2.79 1.76 Recovered grade* (oz/t) 0.084 0.101 0.142 (g/t) 2.87 3.46 4.86 Gold production (000oz) 401 433 600 Total cash costs ($/oz) 646 531 306 Total production costs ($/oz) 751 635 385 Capital expenditure ($m) 31 19 30 Total number of employees 455 410 357 Employees 99 77 102 Contractors 356 333 255 * Open-pit operation P91.