Commissioning of the Benguela Gem diamond vessel

RNS Number : 2032F

Anglo American PLC

18 March 2022

 

18 March 2022

Anglo American announces commissioning of the Benguela Gem diamond recovery vessel

Anglo American plc ("Anglo American") announces the commissioning - ahead of schedule and below budget - of the Benguela Gem diamond recovery vessel (previously known as the AMV3). The Benguela Gem forms part of the fleet operated by the 50:50 joint venture between De Beers and the Government of Namibia.

The Benguela Gem will add an additional 500,000 carats of high value diamonds to annual marine production, an increase of around 45%, following an investment of approximately $420 million (approximately $210 million attributable to Anglo American).

Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: " The commissioning of the Benguela Gem ahead of schedule and below budget marks further progress towards Anglo American's margin-enhancing organic growth of more than 20% over the next three years. This additional vessel further enhances production of some of the highest quality and value diamonds in the world, while delivering sustained economic benefits for Namibia."

Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group, said: "Diamond recovery by Debmarine Namibia is the single biggest contributor to Namibia's economy and we are proud to play our part. The Benguela Gem is the first of its kind and represents an outstanding feat of engineering design, technology innovation and sustainability performance. The investment in this vessel will support a long term, sustainable future for Namibia's diamond sector, which is home to some of the most sought-after diamonds in the world."

The Benguela Gem is a custom built vessel that combines latest technology and fully integrated design to achieve unrivalled efficiency, reliability and accuracy. A state-of-the-art dynamic positioning system automatically optimises the vessel's performance in changing weather conditions to minimise energy use. The vessel also generates its own fresh water through the use of heat recovery systems and a reverse osmosis plant.

For further information, please contact:

Media		Investors
UK James Wyatt-Tilby [e-mail] Tel: [phone] Marcelo Esquivel [e-mail] Tel: [phone] Katie Ryall [e-mail] Tel: [phone] South Africa Nevashnee Naicker [e-mail] Tel: [phone] Sibusiso Tshabalala [e-mail] Tel: [phone]		UK Paul Galloway [e-mail] Tel: [phone] Emma Waterworth [e-mail] Tel: [phone] Juliet Newth juliet [e-mail] Tel: [phone] Michelle Jarman michelle.jarman @angloamerican.com   Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors:

Debmarine Namibia is a subsidiary of Namdeb Holdings, a 50:50 joint venture between De Beers Group and the Government of the Republic of Namibia. In 2021, Debmarine Namibia recovered around 1.1 million carats of rough diamonds of total Namdeb Holdings production of around 1.5 million carats. Namibian diamonds are some of the highest quality diamonds in the world and achieve some of the highest average prices per carat.

Anglo American is a leading global mining company and our products are the essential ingredients in almost every aspect of modern life. Our portfolio of world-class competitive operations, with a broad range of future development options, provides many of the future-enabling metals and minerals for a cleaner, greener, more sustainable world and that meet the fast growing every day demands of billions of consumers. With our people at the heart of our business, we use innovative practices and the latest technologies to discover new resources and to mine, process, move and market our products to our customers - safely and sustainably.

As a responsible producer of diamonds (through De Beers), copper, platinum group metals, premium quality iron ore and metallurgical coal for steelmaking, and nickel - with crop nutrients in development - we are committed to being carbon neutral across our operations by 2040. More broadly, our Sustainable Mining Plan commits us to a series of stretching goals to ensure we work towards a healthy environment, creating thriving communities and building trust as a corporate leader. We work together with our business partners and diverse stakeholders to unlock enduring value from precious natural resources for the benefit of the communities and countries in which we operate, for society as a whole, and for our shareholders. Anglo American is re-imagining mining to improve people's lives.

www.angloamerican.com

Forward-looking statements:

This document includes forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this document, including, without limitation, those regarding Anglo American's financial position, business, acquisition and divestment strategy, dividend policy, plans and objectives of management for future operations (including development plans and objectives relating to Anglo American's products, production forecasts and Ore Reserve and Mineral Resource positions) and environmental, social and corporate governance goals and aspirations, are forward-looking statements. By their nature, such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Anglo American or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding Anglo American's present and future business strategies and the environment in which Anglo American will operate in the future. Important factors that could cause Anglo American's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others, levels of actual production during any period, levels of global demand and commodity market prices, mineral resource exploration and development capabilities, recovery rates and other operational capabilities, safety, health or environmental incidents, the effects of global pandemics and outbreaks of infectious diseases, the outcome of litigation or regulatory proceedings, the availability of mining and processing equipment, the ability to produce and transport products profitably, the availability of transport infrastructure, the impact of foreign currency exchange rates on market prices and operating costs, the availability of sufficient credit, the effects of inflation, political uncertainty and economic conditions in relevant areas of the world, the actions of competitors, activities by courts, regulators and governmental authorities such as in relation to permitting or forcing closure of mines and ceasing of operations or maintenance of Anglo American's assets and changes in taxation or safety, health, environmental or other types of regulation in the countries where Anglo American operates, conflicts over land and resource ownership rights and such other risk factors identified in Anglo American's most recent Annual Report. Forward-looking statements should, therefore, be construed in light of such risk factors and undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Anglo American expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking (except as required by applicable law, the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, the UK Listing Rules, the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority, the Listings Requirements of the securities exchange of the JSE Limited in South Africa, the SIX Swiss Exchange, the Botswana Stock Exchange and the Namibian Stock Exchange and any other applicable regulations) to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Anglo American's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Nothing in this document should be interpreted to mean that future earnings per share of Anglo American will necessarily match or exceed its historical published earnings per share. Certain statistical and other information about Anglo American included in this document is sourced from publicly available third party sources. As such it has not been independently verified and presents the views of those third parties, but may not necessarily correspond to the views held by Anglo American and Anglo American expressly disclaims any responsibility for, or liability in respect of, such information.

Legal Entity Identifier: 549300S9XF92D1X8ME43

 

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