AngloGold Ashanti produced 4.98m ounces of gold last year

Obuasi, May 26, GNA - AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) Group produced 4,982,000 ounces of gold last year with South Africa producing 2,099,000 ounces followed by Ghana with 557,000 ounces.

Ten countries constitute the Group with Argentina and Namibia producing 154,000 and 68,000 ounces respectively. In 2007, the Group produced 5,447,000 ounces of gold with South Africa producing 2,328,000 ounces followed by Australia which produced 600,000 ounces.

According to the Company's 'Report to Society 2008', gold production has been declining annually from 2005's production of 6.16 million ounces to 4.98 million ounces in 2008 with 2006 production of 5.63 million ounces reducing to 5.47 million ounces in 2007. "This decline in production was largely a result of reduced volumes and lower grades mined at the South Africa operations owning to safety and power-related stoppages, reduced production in Argentina as a result of poor grades and intermittent plant breakdowns and in Tanzania where poor plant availability and delays in accessing higher grades affected output negatively".

The report however said Iduapriem Mine in Ghana and Siguiri in Guinea were among the best performing operations of the Group during the period under review. The report, which was made available to the press at Obuasi, showed that the total revenue from the gold production in 2008 amounted to 3,619 million dollars while revenue from each of the Group's three major by-products, uranium, 15 million dollars, silver, 23 million dollars and sulphuric acid 18 million dollars. It added that dividends declared for 2008 was 41 million dollars as against 125 million dollars declared in 2007. The report said AngloGold Ashanti was a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and supported the EITI's request for transparency in the disclosure of payments to governments and receipts from governments. 26 May 09