AGM Statement

Anglo American PLC
17 April 2007


News Release


17 April 2007


                            Anglo American AGM 2007

          Address to shareholders by the chairman and chief executive


At Anglo American plc's Annual General Meeting for shareholders in London today
(17 April 2007), Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, chairman, and Cynthia Carroll, chief
executive, made the following remarks:


Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, Chairman, Anglo American plc:

Ladies and Gentlemen, 2006 was a year of exceptional performance for Anglo
American with robust economic growth in most parts of the world, strong
commodity prices and increased production for most of our products.  Operating
profit was up 54% to $9.8 billion and underlying earnings increased by 46% to
$5.5 billion.


During the year we had one of the largest capital return programmes in the
mining sector through share buy-backs and a special dividend of 67 cents. The
interim dividend was 33 cents and we will be inviting you to approve today a
final dividend of 75 cents. If approved, this will bring our dividend for the
year to 108 cents - 20% more than in 2005. It is worth recalling that the 2005
dividend was, in turn, 39% higher than in 2004.


As the Chief Executive will outline in greater detail, we have been making good
progress in implementing the conclusions of the strategic review announced by
the Board in October 2005.  This has played a significant role in the strong
performance of our share price over the last 18 months.  Since the creation of
Anglo American plc in 1999, we have moved to focus upon our core extractive
businesses and the extent of that transformation will be underlined when Mondi
is listed separately around the middle of this year.


Over the last 12 months, we have delivered record production across many of our
businesses, maintained good cost controls in very difficult circumstances, made
good progress in developing key projects and in replenishing our project
pipeline and we have taken some strides in improving co-operation between our
business units. The only significant source of disappointment was the failure to
achieve the step change for which we are looking in our safety performance.
This will be a key theme for management in 2007.  The Chief Executive will have
more to say about these issues and how she sees the way ahead in a moment.


Governance

At last year's AGM Tony Trahar announced his intention to step down as Chief
Executive. He rightly judged that, by now, he would have laid the foundations
for the implementation of our strategic restructuring programme.  The
realisation of those goals is, indeed, now in sight. Thus, he ceased to be Chief
Executive at the end of February and will be leaving the Board today.


Tony has served the Anglo American Group for thirty-three years and has been a
pivotal personality in its development. He built Mondi into a world-class paper
and packaging business, especially through some very shrewd acquisitions in
Central and Eastern Europe. During his almost seven years as Chief Executive,
Anglo American's market capitalisation grew from £14.4 billion to almost £36
billion.


He will be remembered in particular for the transaction which unwound the
cross-holding between Anglo American and De Beers whilst increasing our holding
in the diamond business from 32% to 45%. During his tenure, we disposed of some
$10 billion of non-core businesses whilst significantly improving the quality of
our asset base through $15 billion of acquisitions - increasing our holding in
Anglo Platinum, through acquisitions such as those of the Disputada copper
assets in Chile and coal operations in Australia and Latin America; and by
establishing a meaningful presence in iron ore through the creation of the Kumba
Iron Ore company. On behalf of the meeting, I offer our thanks to you, Tony.



I should also note the departure of another Executive Director, Simon Thompson,
who has been with the company for 12 years. Most notably he masterminded the
turnaround in our Base Metals business. Over the last three years he has served
as Chairman of Anglo Base Metals, Anglo Industrial Minerals and as Chair of the
Exploration Council. We are grateful for Simon's contribution to the success of
the Group.



It is my great pleasure, however, to welcome Cynthia Carroll, our new Chief
Executive to her first AGM. Cynthia is a geologist and spent the last 18 years
at Alcan where, latterly, she was in charge of their Primary Metal business -
which accounts for some 80% of Alcan's earnings. She is an American citizen with
wide international experience and was an architect of Alcan's transformation
into a global company - expanding the company's operations in China, the Middle
East and Africa. She was also intimately involved in integrating the Pechiney
assets into Alcan.



Cynthia was selected through the most intensive and professionally conducted
selection process in which I have been involved over many years in corporate
life.  The Board's choice was driven by four key criteria apart from the
international experience and leadership abilities that one would expect of any
candidate; a track record of delivering operational excellence, including in the
area of safety; the ability to motivate and lead cultural transformation; and an
aptitude for engaging effectively with key stakeholders including with
governments, and a record of growing businesses.  On behalf of the Board, I
commend Cynthia to you.



Policy Backdrop

We work in an industry with long-term investment horizons and which is
ultimately dependent upon a licence to operate. In many countries issues
surrounding the control of natural resources - especially when prices are high -
stir significant passions. In resource dependent economies the revenues which we
generate can be used to fuel wider development - as has been the case, for
example in Botswana - or they can be misused and lead to the enrichment of
elites. Moreover, given the pivotal role of the BRIC - Brazil, Russia, India and
China - economies in our markets, the resource industries are at the cutting
edge of an unprecedented fast shift in the balance of economic power. These
considerations mean that we must ensure that we: read political risk accurately;
anticipate society's expectations of our industry; and be prepared to work with
partners to improve the development outcomes of our work.



Many of these challenges are covered in the Anglo American 'Report to Society
2006' which was published yesterday and is available here today.  Because we
strongly believe that these issues are fundamental to the future of our business
I will briefly highlight three of them - black economic empowerment in South
Africa, climate change and our contribution to wider development.



Black Economic Empowerment

About a third of our assets are in South Africa - the country in which Anglo
American was born. We have long been committed to playing a full part in the
building of the new South Africa. We support the Government in achieving the
political imperative of black economic empowerment - which is clearly vital to
long-term stability. Whilst some significant issues remain relating to the
conversion of some of our mineral rights under the new dispensation, over the
last year we have made good progress with a variety of black economic
empowerment transactions including for Anglo Coal, De Beers, Tongaat-Hulett and
Scaw Metals.  We have also been instrumental in creating, out of the former
Kumba Resources, the largest black controlled mining company in South Africa -
Exxaro. We are also anticipating progress with BEE transactions within the
platinum business.



We have also been pro-active in seeking out empowered suppliers so that last
year some 26% of our South African procurement was from black-owned or managed
enterprises. We have been making encouraging progress in achieving a more
equitable racial representation in our management ranks - although there remains
more to do. We have also sought to ensure that our contribution to black
economic empowerment is, as far as possible broadly-based, including through
employee share ownership schemes.  We are committed to South Africa and remain
one of the biggest investors there. Our aim is to accelerate the transformation
of our business in its widest sense - not approaching these issues with a narrow
compliance mindset.



Climate Change

The Stern Report and the recent IPCC Report, together with growing evidence of
significant climate change, have elevated the issue to near the top of the
public policy agenda. We are a leading coal producer, the world's biggest
platinum producer - platinum being integral to fuel cell technology - and a
major energy user.  Thus we have a big stake in seeing effective policy
responses. In running our businesses, we are seeking to reduce our carbon
intensity, improve our energy efficiency and participate in relevant
technological developments.



If the development needs of many of the emerging market economies are to be
realised then coal will be an inescapable and important energy source. The
challenge is for this to be made compatible with the need to reduce carbon
emissions.  To play our part in squaring this circle we are participating in the
US-led FutureGen project designed to develop a near-zero emissions coal-based
electricity generation station.



Carbon capture and storage must be a crucial element in the future use of coal.
With this in mind, we have formed a Clean Coal Alliance with Shell with our
Monash Energy project being one of the first collaborative projects under
consideration.  We are also working with Shell on clean coal approaches at our
Xiwan project in China. To enable such big, long-term investments to go ahead,
however, it is important for governments to provide greater certainty about the
future public policy framework, so that we have a better idea of the balance
between market mechanisms and regulation in strategies to reduce carbon.



Pending greater certainty on the policy front, I am pleased to note the progress
being made by our Australian coal bed methane generation projects. The first two
are already saving the equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions of over 350,000
cars each year. We are looking at other options in Australia and have been
carrying out a feasibility study in the Waterberg coalfield in South Africa.



We recently received approval for our second Clean Development Mechanism
methodology from the CDM Executive Committee.  Within our operations we have
literally hundreds of energy efficiency projects underway and are seeking to
ensure that we spread the learnings from them. We are also looking actively at
the role of biofuels, including through a pilot project in Australia.  In the
UK, I would particularly commend Tarmac's SAVE energy efficiency programme.



Business and Development

I briefly turn now to our role in development. As a company with over two thirds
of our operations in developing countries, this is a vital agenda for us. In
recent years there has been a change in the terms of debate with most
development specialists now seeing the role of the private sector as integral to
effective programmes for the alleviation of poverty.



Ensuring that we contribute to the sustainable development of the countries and
communities where we work is also a crucial response to the tide of resource
nationalism in Russia and a number of countries in South America and Africa.
Thus, I am proud to note that in 2006 we generated and collected tax revenues
for our host governments of around $4.5 billion and generated some $16.4 billion
in added value in the economies where we operate.



At a local level, we have long sought to ensure that the communities associated
with our operations should experience a significant net socio-economic benefit
whether through greater economic opportunities, improved infrastructure, better
heath and education provision or an enhancement of their capacities.  Our local
responses are now better informed through our Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox
- or SEAT process - enabling us better to understand the concerns, priorities
and dynamics of the communities where we work. We have now carried out 50 such
assessments and will soon begin a second wave using an improved methodology.



We have continued to innovate around local business development both through our
well-established Anglo Zimele unit in South Africa and more recently through new
initiatives in Chile to extend micro-credit to some 4,700 businesses over three
years and a more ambitious plan for supporting the growth of entrepreneurs who
have the potential to move beyond subsistence levels.



Nationally and internationally - and especially through the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative - we are working with others to combat
corruption and to promote transparency in the belief that this will contribute
to resource revenues being used more wisely. Through our membership of the
International Council on Mining and Metals we, and our colleagues at AngloGold
Ashanti, have been prominent in their resource endowment project - which is
identifying the factors that contribute to good development outcomes from the
exploitation of mineral resources.



In 2005, we were active contributors to the work of the Commission for Africa
and to the G8's Gleneagles package. We were then the first private sector
investor to contribute to the Investment Climate Facility for Africa which has
now collected over $150 million in pledges and is just starting work from its
new base in Tanzania.  I hope that over the coming years it will facilitate a
blossoming of business activity in Africa to complement the increased aid flows
pledged by governments.



Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to thank the management team and our employees at
all levels for their work in 2006. They have done a great job for us.



I now invite the Chief Executive to address us.





Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive, Anglo American plc:

Thank you Sir Mark, I should like to add my thanks to Tony Trahar for laying
strong foundations for the next phase of our growth and development. I am
particularly grateful to him for his willingness to share his experience and
advice during the handover period.



I will not detain you with a lengthy review of 2006 since you have already seen
the Annual Report and the Annual Review. I will, therefore:

-       briefly highlight the financial headlines for the year;

-       report on the progress made in delivering on our strategy;

-       outline Anglo American's capacity for organic growth; and

-       set-out some preliminary priorities for the early months of my tenure as 
        your Chief Executive.



Financial Headlines

In 2006 we achieved an operating profit for the year of $9.8 billion - our
highest ever recorded - on the back of increased production, strong commodity
prices and some successes in containing costs at a time of exceptional cost
pressures. Notably strong performances were recorded by Base Metals and Platinum
and we achieved record production of platinum, copper, zinc and iron ore.



Underlying earnings were $5.5 billion with record EBITDA of $12.2 billion.  The
strong cash generation from our operations in 2006, as well as the proceeds from
non-core disposals, enabled us to announce a $7.5 billion return of capital in
the form of share buybacks and special dividends - one of the highest levels of
capital returns in the industry.  This was in addition to $1.4 billion in
ordinary dividends paid in 2006 and a further $1.1 billion final dividend
recommended in respect to 2006.



On the 21st February of this year we announced a further buyback of $3 billion,
which commenced this month.



Delivering our Strategy

The strategy announced by the Board in October 2005 is to become a focused
mining group and, in the process, simplify our structure and enhance returns for
our shareholders. Although the achievement of some of our objectives has
involved complex regulatory issues we have made good progress and I would expect
us to pass some more significant milestones over the next few months.



Plans for a full demerger of Mondi are on track. Final approval has now been
received from the regulatory authorities in South Africa for a Dual Listed
Company Structure with primary listings in both Johannesburg and London. This
structure reflects the fact that the majority of Mondi's business is in Europe
whilst recognising Mondi's South African heritage and its significant ongoing
operations there.



The Dual Listed Company will comprise Mondi Ltd, a South African incorporated
company holding Mondi's South African assets, and Mondi plc, a UK incorporated
company holding Mondi's non-South African assets, together, Mondi Ltd and Mondi
plc, will be known as the Mondi Group. The Mondi Group will be managed as a
single enterprise and the Board of Directors and management team of Mondi plc
and Mondi Ltd will be identical. Sir John Parker and Cyril Ramaphosa will become
Joint Non-Executive Chairmen of the Mondi Group.



David Hathorn and Paul Hollingworth will continue as Chief Executive Officer and
Chief Financial Officer, respectively, of the Mondi Group.  The headquarters of
the Mondi Group will be based in South Africa.



It is currently expected that demerger documentation will be sent to Anglo
American shareholders in early June 2007.  Subject to receiving shareholder
approval, the demerger is expected to be effected during July 2007.



Last year we reduced our holding in AngloGold Ashanti from 51% to 42% and
realised around $1 billion in the process. The decision to exit our gold holding
is driven by the higher relative valuations attributable to pure-play gold
companies, compared with how those assets are valued as part of a diversified
mining group.  We will continue to explore all options that will enable us to
exit AngloGold Ashanti in an orderly manner over the next two years.



The unbundling of Tongaat-Hulett's aluminium business to shareholders and
simultaneous introduction of broad based black economic empowerment into both
Tongaat-Hulett and Hulett Aluminium will occur during the second quarter of 2007
- reducing our holdings in each of them to 38% and 39% respectively.

.

In July 2006, we disposed of the majority of our stake in Highveld Steel, with
Russia's Evraz Group and Credit Suisse each acquiring 24.9% of Highveld's share
capital for an aggregate consideration of $412 million. The European Union
competition authorities gave their approval in February. Once the remaining
regulatory approvals are received, Evraz has an option to purchase our remaining
29.2% shareholding in Highveld.  This should realise a further $266 million.



A Platform for Growth

I should emphasise that the Board see these disposals, and the greater focus and
coherence they create, as a foundation upon which aggressively to grow our
remaining, core, businesses. We have one of the best project pipelines in the
industry with some $7 billion in approved projects and a further $10 to $15
billion of potential projects under review, to underpin that growth.



During 2006 approval was given to the $1.2 billion Barro Alto project in Brazil,
which will enable us to more than double our nickel production by 2011. Approval
was also given to a number of new projects and expansions which will enable us
to grow our platinum output at a compound growth rate of 5% a year.



Kumba Iron Ore's already approved projects will see their production rise by 40%
by 2009 - and we have other iron ore expansion possibilities under
consideration.



In Anglo Coal, our new Dawson mine in Australia is expected to attain design
capacity later this year with the Lake Lindsay project coming on stream in 2008.
In South Africa, work is well under way at Mafube and in Colombia, Cerrejon is
planned to expand production from 28 million tonnes to 32 million tonnes by the
end of next year.



Similarly, De Beers will be bringing Snap Lake in Canada into production later
this year. Victor is scheduled to follow in 2008. Approval has been granted for
two new diamond mining operations in South Africa.



We are, in addition, looking at opportunities in new countries. We have already
established a strong presence in China where we hope to develop some significant
investment opportunities, over the medium term, especially in coal and platinum.
De Beers have re-entered Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In
addition to our Moscow and Beijing representative offices, Anglo American will
shortly be opening new offices in India and the DRC.



Initial Impressions

Since joining the Board in January and taking over as Chief Executive in March,
I have visited a representative selection of operations in South Africa, Chile,
Colombia, Venezuela and Australia.  I have been listening and learning. I have
been impressed by much of what I have seen - from an excellent continuous
improvement programme in Anglo Chile to ground-breaking community and HIV/AIDS
programmes at our Goedehoop colliery in South Africa.



The Group has an exceptional asset base; a unique and enviable market position
in platinum and diamonds; excellent growth prospects; employees of the highest
quality and commitment; and a strong technical base. These are great strengths
and we need to ensure that we are maximising the value that they can deliver.
The Board appointed me, as an outsider, to act as a catalyst for change and I
intend to live up to that challenge. We will work to improve operational
efficiencies while bringing the organisation together globally. To complement
our organic growth potential we will examine possible acquisitions - when the
time and the prices are right.



I know you will not expect me to set out definitive plans at this stage. I
thought, nonetheless, that I should indicate five early areas of focus: safety;
streamlining decision-making; leveraging our scale; continuous improvement and
knowledge sharing programmes; and improving our engagement with stakeholders.



Safety is the foremost responsibility of any employer and we will be relentless
in working to improve our safety performance.  Progress has been made but, even
so, last year 44 people lost their lives in our operations.  This is simply not
acceptable.  We will, therefore, build upon the work set in hand by Tony Trahar
and the excellent framework of standards which were produced in 2005. I have
made clear that effective management of safety will be a key requirement for
those managers who wish to make progress within the company.  We will be
implementing the learnings from 20 safety peer reviews undertaken at site level
last year and I am determined that we will be more effective in capturing
lessons from safety incidents and near-misses and disseminating them. We will be
convening a special meeting of our top 100 managers worldwide for a Safety
Summit in June to ensure that there is consistency of approach.



I am introducing changes too to our corporate structures so as to up the tempo,
reduce bureaucracy and enable faster decision making. I want to see managers
more empowered - with clear objectives and stretching targets against which to
deliver. I have already removed one layer of management and increased my own
interface with the business unit management teams.



I intend to see faster progress in establishing shared services and in
maximising our ability to leverage our scale in areas like procurement.



We have enormous potential, but there needs to be a greater sense of common
purpose across our businesses. We will instil a more regular approach of sharing
knowledge and ideas as central to the way the new Anglo American does business.
That approach is taking root, with over 300 electronic collaborative groups
already established and a new toolset to support innovation is being piloted for
roll-out across the Group. I know too - because I have seen them - that we have
practices that are clearly world class. We will work to achieve greater
consistency across the company in applying these practices everywhere. And we
will recognise and reward innovation and collaboration within and between our
businesses.



Finally, the new style at Anglo American will be more engaged with the world
around us. We are leaders in an industry which depends upon the goodwill of
others to thrive. We must work more closely with our host governments and seek
to understand and complement their policy priorities. We will get closer to our
customers and suppliers to understand how to work better together.  And we will
seek to improve our contribution to development and our understanding of the
concerns and priorities of the communities where we work.



Outlook

In closing, I believe that the strong global growth we are seeing will provide a
supportive climate for our businesses in 2007. Stocks of most of the major
metals remain relatively low and there remain significant constraints within
parts of the supply chain.  Thus the outlook is for metals to remain
significantly above long term equilibrium levels.



This is my first AGM as Chief Executive - I look forward to leading our
excellent team in tackling the challenges ahead.


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