Anglo American plc
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Anglo American plc is a British multinational mining company with headquarters in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England. It is the world's largest producer of
platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
, with around 40% of world output, as well as being a major producer of
diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
s,
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
,
nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...
,
iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...
,
polyhalite Polyhalite is an evaporite mineral, a hydrated sulfate of potassium, calcium and magnesium with formula: . Polyhalite crystallizes in the triclinic system, although crystals are very rare. The normal habit is massive to fibrous. It is typica ...
and steelmaking
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
. The company has operations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. Anglo American has a primary listing on the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...
. The company has a secondary listing on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...
. In the 2020 ''Forbes'' Global 2000, Anglo American was ranked as the 274th largest public company in the world.


History


1917–1990

Ernest Oppenheimer, a Jewish German émigré, founded the Anglo American Corporation (AAC) in 1917 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with financial backing from the American bank J.P. Morgan & Co. and £1 million raised from UK and US sources to start the gold mining company; this fact is reflected in the company's name. The AAC became the majority stakeholder in the
De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...
company in 1926, a company formerly controlled by
Alfred Beit Alfred Beit (15 February 1853 – 16 July 1906) was an Anglo-German gold and diamond magnate in South Africa, and a major donor and profiteer of infrastructure development on the African continent. He also donated much money to university ed ...
, also a Jewish German émigré. In the late 1940s and 1950s, the AAC focused on the development of the Free State goldfields (seven major mines simultaneously) and the Vaal Reefs mine. During 1945, the AAC moved into the coal industry by acquiring Coal Estates. Twelve years later, Oppenheimer died in Johannesburg and was succeeded as head of the company by his son Harry, who also became chairman of De Beers. In 1961, the AAC expanded outside of southern Africa for the first time and became a major investor in the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company in Canada. In 1967, the company moved into the steel industry by acquiring Scaw Metals. From 1967 to 1975, it continued to grow and established a number of ventures, including the Mondi Group (timber, pulp and paper), Amgold (later
AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a South African gold mining company, with global operations. With a diverse portfolio of cooperation, projects, and exploration activities, AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the ...
) and then Amcoal (through the consolidation of several of its mining operations in South Africa; later known as Anglo Coal and in 2010 changed to Anglo Thermal). In 1982, Harry Oppenheimer retired as chairman of the AAC and was succeeded by Gavin Relly. Two years later, Oppenheimer retired from De Beers and passed the chairmanship to Julian Ogilvie Thompson, who in 1990 also became chairman and chief executive of the AAC.


1990–2010

On 24 May 1999, Anglo American Corporation merged with
Minorco The Minorco SA (Minerals and Resources Company) was a mining company based in Luxembourg. It was set up by the South African Anglo American Corporation in 1987 to hold its non-African, non-diamond mining operations. Although Minorco was quoted on ...
to form Anglo American plc, with its primary listing on the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
and a secondary listing on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...
. Its gold mining operations were spun off into the separate
AngloGold AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a South Africa, South African gold mining company, with global operations. With a diverse portfolio of cooperation, projects, and exploration activities, AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloG ...
corporation, which in 2004 merged with the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation to form
AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a South African gold mining company, with global operations. With a diverse portfolio of cooperation, projects, and exploration activities, AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the ...
. Anglo American reduced its stake in AngloGold Ashanti to 16.6% in 2008. In 2000, Julian Ogilvie Thompson retired as chief executive of Anglo American and was succeeded by Tony Trahar. Ogilvie Thompson also retired as chairman in 2002 and was replaced by Mark Moody-Stuart. In the same year, Anglo American acquired Tarmac, a supplier of building materials, and Shell Petroleum Company's Australian coal assets. In 2001, De Beers was privatised after being a listed company for more than 70 years. In 2002, South Africa's Mining Charter was approved, and Anglo American and other mining companies with operations in the country were mandated to transfer a percentage of their South African production to historically disadvantaged South Africans. From 2002 to July 2008 Anglo American carried out black community economic empowerment transactions (across all businesses with operations in South Africa) totalling R26 billion. Also, in 2002, Anglo Base Metals acquired the Disputada copper operations in Chile from
ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...
and opened a representative office in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, China. In 2003, Anglo American acquired a majority stake in iron ore producer Kumba Resources. In 2007, Cynthia Carroll succeeded Tony Trahar, becoming the first non-South African and first female chief executive of Anglo American. The Mondi Group, a paper and packaging business, was also spun out in 2007. During the next two years, Anglo American opened a representative office in
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
, India, acquired control of the Michiquillay copper project in northern
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
and the MMX Minas-Rio and Amapa iron ore projects in
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, and later acquired stakes in the Pebble copper project in
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
. Anglo American was also accused in 2007 of damaging environmental practices: in order to complete its planned Alaskan
Pebble Mine Pebble Mine is the common name of a proposed copper-gold-molybdenum mining project in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark. It was discovered in 1987, optioned by Northern Dynasty Minerals in 2001, ex ...
in collaboration with Northern Dynasty Minerals, the company considered building a massive dam at the
headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...
of the world's largest
sockeye salmon The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a ...
fishery, which it would risk obliterating. Opponents also pointed to the use of
cyanide In chemistry, cyanide () is an inorganic chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Ionic cyanides contain the cyanide anion . This a ...
,
heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals is a controversial and ambiguous term for metallic elements with relatively h ...
, and
acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines and coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weatherin ...
which can all have potentially devastating effects on the environment of the
Bristol Bay Bristol Bay (, ) is the easternmost arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West in Southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is 400 km (250 mi) long and 290 km (180 mi) wide at its mouth. A number of rivers flow in ...
area. Opponents of the Pebble Mine created Ballot Measure 4 to impose additional water quality standards on new large-scale mines in the state. However, in August 2007, Alaskans voted against the initiative. As of September 2008, the Pebble Limited Partnership had not yet put forward a project proposal and was working to prepare a prefeasibility study for the project in the second half of 2009. The mine proposal would still need to undergo environmental studies and the permitting process, including being subject to state and federal water protections. In December 2013, Anglo American withdrew from the Pebble Limited Partnership.


2010 to present

In early November 2011, Anglo American entered into talks with the Oppenheimer family to divest the latter's remaining shares of De Beers, whereby Anglo American acquired an additional 40% stake for $5.1 billion, increasing their overall stake to 85%. This came at a time of increased labour strikes and international attention to Oppenheimer's involvement in conflict diamonds. Anglo American then sold a 24.5% share in its Chilean copper unit, Anglo American Sur, to Japan's
Mitsubishi Corporation is a Japanese general trading company ( ''sogo shosha'') and a core member of the Mitsubishi Group. For much of the post-war period, Mitsubishi Corporation has been the largest of the five great ''sogo shosha'' (Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, S ...
for $5.39 billion, paid with a promissory note due on 10 November 2011. With this deal, the Anglo American Sur complex was valued at $22 billion. In November 2012, Anglo American completed the sale of steel maker Scaw South Africa and its connected companies for a total of R3.4 billion in cash. In July 2014, Anglo American said it was disposing of its 50% shareholding in Lafarge Tarmac, a building materials joint venture, to cement maker Lafarge SA for a value of not less than £885 million ($1.5 billion); the sale was subsequently completed in July 2015 for $1.6 billion. In October 2014, Anglo American's Minas-Rio iron ore project in Brazil began operating and shipping ore. In July 2015, Anglo American announced that it would cut 53,000 jobs (35% of their workforce) and that in the first half of 2015, they had a financial loss of US$3 billion. In early December 2015, the company announced that, as part of a restructure, it would be cutting a further 85,000 mining jobs, nearly two-thirds of its work force of 135,000, worldwide. It also announced the consolidation of six of its divisions into three businesses, while dividend payouts to investors were also suspended for a year. The company also had its Dawson, Foxleigh and Callide coal mines in Central
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, as well as its Dartbrook coal mine in the
Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its ...
in
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, put up for sale as its shares dropped to a record low on the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
, falling by more than 12 per cent. In March 2017, British Indian industrialist Anil Agarwal purchased 11% of the company through his family trust Volcan. In September, he took the holding to 20% through another purchase worth about $1.5 billion. In April 2017, the company sold its
Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. Eskom was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) (). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the larg ...
-linked thermal coal operations in South Africa for $166 million, marking an important step in the mining giant's strategic overhaul to sharpen its focus on three commodities. In October 2019, Anglo American announced a partnership with French energy company
Engie Engie SA (stylised in all caps as ENGIE) is a French multinational electric utility company, headquartered in La Défense, Courbevoie. Its activities cover electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear power, renewable energy ...
and engineering firm First Mode to develop the world's largest hydrogen-powered mine haul truck. In January 2020, Anglo American made a 5.5p per share offer to buy a
polyhalite Polyhalite is an evaporite mineral, a hydrated sulfate of potassium, calcium and magnesium with formula: . Polyhalite crystallizes in the triclinic system, although crystals are very rare. The normal habit is massive to fibrous. It is typica ...
fertiliser project (in
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
) from Sirius Minerals for £400m. In salvaging the financially troubled project, Anglo American envisages spending around £230m to keep construction going. The sale was approved by shareholders in March 2020. In April 2021, Anglo American announced the demerger of Thungela Resources, which will own a series of significant South African thermal coal assets, in order to eliminate the risk of clean-up liabilities. In May 2022, Anglo American and First Mode unveiled the world’s largest
hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
powered mine haul truck at Mogalakwena PGM Mine in northeast South Africa. The project, which is expected to be fully implemented by 2026, is a first step in making eight of the company’s mines
carbon neutral Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and Greenhouse gas removal, removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon diox ...
by 2040. The company has set a target of getting all of its operations to that status by 2040. President of the Republic of South Africa,
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...
was present at the launch and stated, "Developing the hydrogen economy is a strategic priority for our country." BHP made an offer to acquire the company for £31 billion in April 2024; however, the offer was rejected by the company as "highly unattractive". In May 2024, a revised offer was made by BHP and subsequently rejected by Anglo American. The platinum mining division, was demerged from Anglo American as Valterra Platinum on 31 May 2025.


Operations

Anglo American focuses on natural resources with six core businesses: Kumba Iron Ore, Iron Ore Brazil, coal (thermal and metallurgical), base metals (copper, nickel, niobium and phosphates), platinum, and diamonds, through
De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...
, in which it owns an 85% share. In 2008, the company had 105,000 permanent employees and 39,000 contract employees in its managed operations across 45 countries. In 2008, Anglo American (excluding De Beers) spent $212 million on exploring 21 countries for resources including copper, nickel, niobium phosphates and zinc. The two main types of exploration for the company are greenfield and
brownfield Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...
, with nearly 70% devoted to greenfield projects. Anglo American, along with De Beers, backed the manufacturing of a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) to help improve the sensitivity of exploration surveys. Anglo American established Boart Products South Africa Limited in 1936 (later named Boart International) to turn the company's stockpile of boart, or low-grade natural diamonds, into drilling products. This initiative resulted in the development of the first mechanically set diamond drill bit and later led to additional research into cutting and abrasive tools. In December 2010, following delays and high costs, Anglo American gained a key licence from the Brazilian government that would allow work to start on the Minas-Rio iron ore project. Production is initially expected to be 26.5 million tonnes per year; iron ore would be sent through a 525 km slurry pipeline to the Port of Açu. As of October 2014, Minas-Rio is operational and shipping ore. In July 2018, Anglo American announced that it would spend $5.3 billion on developing the Quellaveco copper mine in
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, which the company acquired in 1992, with the Japanese conglomerate
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...
funding 40% of the total cost. As part of the project, Anglo American also committed 650 million soles ($195 million) towards local community developments projects in
Moquegua Moquegua (, founded by the Spanish colonists as Villa de Santa Catalina de Guadalcázar del Valle de Moquegua) is a city in southern Peru, located in the Department of Moquegua, of which it is the capital. It is also capital of Mariscal Nieto Prov ...
, where the Quellaveco mine is located.


Accusations of health impacts

In October 2020, Anglo American was accused of being responsible for lead poisoning in possibly over 100,000 people near Kabwe mine, which the company operated from 1925 - 1974. Numerous studies since 1971 have shown that people around Kabwe mine have been poisoned by lead. A 2015 study found that 100% of children tested in the area had lead in their blood exceeding CDC guidelines. Plaintiffs say that the lead originated from the lead mine and smelter, stating that “generations of children have been poisoned by the operations of the Kabwe mine...which caused widespread contamination of the soil, dust, water and vegetation.” Anglo American denies these allegations and has accused its successor ZCCM, which operated the mine after its nationalization in 1974. The
class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...
certification hearing was held in February 2023 at the
High Court of South Africa The High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law in South Africa. It is divided into nine provinces of South Africa, provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has general jurisdiction ov ...
's Johannesburg branch. In 2013, the companies involved in the Cerrejón coal mine in
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
, were accused of increasing illness in approximately 13,000 people living close to the mine. Anglo American was also accused of failing to compensate people who had been displaced by its expansion. In September 2020, a UN human rights expert advised that Colombia discontinue the mine citing environmental and human rights concerns. In January 2021, the
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
launched an investigation into
Cerrejón Cerrejón is a large Coal mining, open-pit coal mine in Northern Colombia owned by Glencore. At Cerrejón, low-ash, low-sulphur bituminous coal from the Cerrejón Formation is excavated. At over the mine is one of the largest of its type, the la ...
over human rights and environmental concerns. In February 2021, Anglo American announced plans to divest the Cerrejon mine by 2024. In June 2021, Anglo sued the Colombian government for preventing the development of the La Puente coal pit.


Carbon footprint

For 2023, Anglo American reported Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions of 12.5 Mt CO2e. The company has committed to carbon neutrality in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2040, and 50% reductions in the Scope 3 emissions relative to a 2020 baseline.


See also

* List of mining companies * List of companies traded on the JSE * List of companies of South Africa *
Economy of South Africa The economy of South Africa is the largest economy in Africa. It is a mixed economy, emerging market, and upper-middle-income economy, and one of only eight such countries in Africa. The economy is the most industrialised, technologically advanc ...
* Mineral Policy Institute *
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a Norwegian-based organization that seeks to establish a global standard for the good governance of oil, gas and mineral resources. It seeks to address the key governance issues in the ...
* International Council on Mining and Metals *
United Nations Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to get businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is the world's ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anglo American Plc Diamond mining companies Iron ore mining companies Mining companies based in London Mining companies of the United Kingdom Mining companies of South Africa Conglomerate companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in London British companies established in 1999 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1999 1999 establishments in England Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Companies in the FTSE 100 Index AngloGold Ashanti De Beers Oppenheimer family