Transaction in Own Shares

Anglo American PLC
22 December 2006



                       Anglo American plc (the "Company")
                  Purchases of Ordinary Shares in the Company

Following the increase in the buyback programme of US$4 billion announced in the
interim results announcement of Friday 4 August 2006, the Company announces that
on 21 December 2006 an independent company purchased 670,000 ordinary shares of
the Company at prices between £24.58 and £24.94 per share. This purchase was
made by an independent company to be funded by a wholly owned overseas
subsidiary of the Company, which wholly owned subsidiary will have the right to
nominate a transferee for such shares, and otherwise in accordance with
arrangements substantially the same as those announced by the Company on 23
March 2006.

Anglo American plc currently holds 45,621,369 ordinary shares in treasury, and
has 1,496,032,238 ordinary shares in issue (excluding treasury shares) and the
independent companies referred to above and in the announcement of 23 March 2006
together hold 45,206,938 ordinary shares, representing 3.02 per cent of Anglo
American plc's ordinary shares in issue (excluding treasury shares).

Catherine Marshall
Company Secretarial Assistant
Anglo American plc
22 December 2006





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