20th Nov 2006 14:30
Anglo American PLC20 November 2006 News Release 20 November 2006 ANGLO AMERICAN SUBSIDIARY KUMBA IRON ORE LISTS ON THE JSE Anglo American plc ("Anglo American") is pleased to announce that Kumba Iron OreLimited ("Kumba Iron Ore"), a 64.1% subsidiary of Anglo American, listed on theJohannesburg Stock Exchange today. This listing, together with Kumba Resources,renamed Exxaro, which begins trading next Monday, 27 November, 2006, representtwo of the most significant empowerment transactions in South Africa to dateboth initiated by Anglo American. In December 2003 when Anglo American acquired 67% of Kumba Resources itdetermined, with the support of the other shareholders in the company especiallythe Industrial Development Corporation, to create an empowerment construct thatwould add value for shareholders and give investment confidence in the future ofthe country. The Kumba Iron Ore share debuted at 11500c, giving the group a marketcapitalisation of R36billion. Kumba Iron Ore is a key producer of iron ore, exporting 73% of its production to30 major customers worldwide. Anglo American chief executive Tony Trahar said that in line with the group'sstrong commitment to transformation and empowerment two significant companieshad been created-South Africa's biggest ever BEE company Exxaro and a focussediron ore operator with strong growth prospects. "We are confident that KumbaIron Ore will contribute materially to Anglo American's continued growth, andthat it will play a key role in our iron ore strategy," Trahar said, adding, "Kumba Iron Ore is currently undertaking the biggest capex project ever in SA'siron ore history with the current Sishen Expansion Project 1of 13Mtpa tons at acost of R5.1billion." Kumba Iron Ore chief executive, Ras Myburgh, said Kumba Iron Ore's experiencedmanagement team was looking forward to growing an already strong business.Myburgh said Kumba Iron Ore would be a significant contributor to AngloAmerican's bottom line, as iron ore demand remained buoyant. In line with this demand, Myburgh said Kumba Iron Ore had plans to increase itscurrent 32Mtpa output to 42Mtpa by 2009. "In addition, we have the reserves totake production up to 70Mtpa by 2015 with our strong pipeline of seven keyprojects which will support this growth. The 13Mtpa Sishen Expansion Project isalready underway, and the Sishen Expansion Project II, which could add as muchas 20Mtpa to production, is currently at pre-feasibility study stage. Afeasibility study to develop a new mine 70km south of the existing Sishen minewith an initial capacity of 9mtpa is expected to be finalised early next year. Myburgh added, "We are proud to announce the establishment of an employee shareparticipation scheme called Envision, which will see the transfer of three percent of Sishen Iron Ore Company's shares to employees. Envision represents acritical step in our aim to define a new level of operational and peopleperformance in our industry. It also represents one of our key objectives,namely to deliver outstanding sustainable value to all our stakeholders - ouremployees included," says Myburgh. Ends Investor Relations and media enquiries:Anne DunnTel: +27 11 638 4730Mob: +27 82 448 2684 Background/additional notes for editors ANGLO AMERICAN plc Anglo American: • Now owns 64.1% of Kumba Iron Ore (13% is held by the IDC and the balance will be freefloat) which gives Anglo American an effective direct economic interest of 47% in SIOC, in addition to a further indirect interest of 4% through Anglo American's 19% stake in Exxaro. • retains 19% of Exxaro as a demonstration of its long-term commitment to Exxaro of which 10% will be locked in for 10 years • has granted options to Exxaro to acquire 100% of Namakwa Sands and 26% of the Black Mountain zinc mine and the Gamsberg zinc project at a total fixed price of R2.2 billion ($300 million) KUMBA IRON ORE Kumba Iron Ore will be a fully empowered company. Exxaro will have a 20%shareholding in the Sishen Iron Ore Company, the Northern Cape broad-basedcommunity groups will have another 3% shareholding and this, together with theemployee empowerment/share participation scheme (Envision) of 3%, enables KumbaIron Ore to be 26% BEE compliant on day one. www.kumba.co.za This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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