Anglo American to shed 11% of operations

22nd Oct 2009 07:43

Mining giant Anglo American has announced plans to divest assets including its zinc and tarmac operations as it seeks to focus on its core operations.The assets to be divested accounted for 11% of 2008 group EBITDA, Anglo said. Following the divestments, Anglo said it would comprise seven new business units, reflecting its new focus. These are: platinum (South Africa); Copper (Chile); Nickel (Brazil); metallurgical coal (Australia); thermal coal (South Africa); Kumba iron ore (South Africa) and iron ore (Brazil).'I believe that these actions will position Anglo American well for sustained, profitable growth in the commodities we have identified as being the most attractive,' said chief executive Cynthia Carroll. 'The portfolio changes we have announced are the logical next step in focusing the group on our core mining activities, enabling us to strengthen our balance sheet further.'Anglo also reported production figures for the quarter to September 30. Copper production climbed by 13.4% to 168,500 tonnes and iron ore output climbed 15.7% to 11.9m tonnes.Platinum production was up by 15.8% at 629,000 ounces and thermal coal production was down by 1%, the firm said.