Anglo American to spend a third of its exploration budget in Africa
Anglo CEO Mark Cutifani has said previously that SA ‘punches above its weight’
Anglo American is going where larger rivals fear to tread, returning to its African roots to tap mineral assets with compelling returns. The storied mining company, founded by Ernest Oppenheimer in Johannesburg a century ago, is devoting a third of its exploration budget to the continent, including searching for copper and cobalt in Angola and Zambia. In SA, it’s investing in platinum, diamond and iron-ore mines that are spitting out cash. The London-based company is betting that Africa can deliver a portfolio of new ore bodies, even as BHP and Rio Tinto largely shun the continent and focus on returning cash to shareholders. It’s a reversal of Anglo’s almost two-decade retreat from a continent that long weighed on its shares, but the miner retains a higher tolerance for risk in what used to be its backyard.
“They are working toward projects that can form the pipeline 30 years from now,” said Hunter Hillcoat, a London-based analyst at Investec Securities. “Anglo is the only one...
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