Africa: AngloGold Ashanti gold production drops 7% in Q1 2021
South African mining giant AngloGold Ashanti saw a 7% year-on-year drop in gold production, reaching 588,000 ounces in the first quarter of 2021.
This is one of the conclusions of the report published on May 10, 2021 by the mining company, specifying that its African mines brought it in 352,000 ounces, a decrease of 2% compared to the first quarter of 2020.
According to the May 10 publication by AngloGold, gold production fell by 15% at Geita in Tanzania (114,000 ounces), by 5% at Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo (86,000 ounces) and by 29% at Iduapriem in Ghana (48,000 ounces).
Only the Obuasi (Ghana) and Siguiri (Guinea) gold mines saw their production increase respectively by 142% and 20% year-on-year.
The Ghanaian mine produced 46,000 ounces, compared to 58,000 ounces (on an attributable basis) for the Guinean asset.
According to the source, the same drops in production are observed at the other mines of the gold mining giant outside the African continent.
As a result, production in Australia fell 20% year-on-year to 104,000 ounces against a 6% drop in Latin America (Argentina and Brazil) to 132,000 ounces.
Experts indicate that despite this operational underperformance, overall profit climbed 51% to $ 203 million, thanks to the high price of gold.
The mining company sold its output at an average price of $ 1,788 an ounce, up from $ 1,584 a year earlier.
In addition, Adjusted EBITDA was up 3% to $ 449 million while adjusted net debt fell 43%.
Kibali is a joint venture in which AngloGold owns 45% alongside its competitor Barrick (45%) and the Congolese state (10%).
As for the Siguiri gold mine, it is 85% owned by the South African mining giant.
