Alberto Calderon to lead AngloGold Ashanti after gold major’s year of uncertainty
Former Orica boss Alberto Calderon will lead AngloGold Ashanti after a year of uncertainty at the gold major.
Former Orica boss Alberto Calderon has been appointed as the new boss of AngloGold Ashanti, taking charge of the gold major after a year of uncertainty at the world’s third biggest gold producer.
The former BHP executive announced his departure from Orica in February, after six years in the top job, and will take charge of AngloGold on September 1.
Mr Calderon’s appointment to head the gold major brings to a close a year of uncertainty for AngloGold, which has seen its share price plunge amid a search for a permanent new boss.
AngloGold has been without a permanent chief executive for more than a year since the shock resignation of Kelvin Dushnisky in June 2020, less than two years after the former Barrick president took up the role in what was seen at the time as a recruiting coup for AngloGold.
Since his surprise departure – reportedly after South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, a major shareholder, called for an independent probe into a sign on fee of more $US900,000 ($1.2bn) he received to defect from Barrick – AngloGold stock has been in a tailspin, with its market capitalisation falling from $US11.78bn just ahead of Mr Dushnisky’s resignation, to $US8.15bn this week.
The glacial pace of its search for a new CEO – interrupted by the resignation of chairman Sipho Pityana in December – has been a major contributing factor, as is the ongoing suspension of operations at its Obuasi gold mine in Ghana after the death of a worker in May.
AngloGold has also been struggling to repatriate more than $US461m of profit from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is involved in an ongoing dispute with the government of Tanzania over its claim the gold major owes $US262m in back taxes.
Even a decision to lift dividend payments fivefold earlier this year has done little to lift its ailing stock.
When Mr Calderon announced his retirement from Orica in February he told The Australian he had no desire to return to the stress of running a large publicly listed company, flagging a shift to a role in a private equity partnership.
But he said on Wednesday the opportunity offered by the AngloGold board was too good to turn down.
“The mines that it has are really what BHP used to call tier one,” he said.
“I wasn’t ready to retire and then when they called me and I started analysing the things that this company needs, if you look at it, it’s nothing new. It needs to be getting the basics right. Success will follow from doing the basics right and the basics start with, obviously safety and major hazards.”
Even though its market performance has significantly lagged its peers, AngloGold is still one of the biggest gold producers in the world.
AngloGold sold the last of higher cost South African gold mines in 2020, but its suite of 10 remaining mines, including Sunrise Dam and a 70 per cent share of the Tropicana mine in WA, produced 588,000 ounces of gold in the March quarter, with interim chief executive Christine Ramon flagging ambitious plans to grow its output by 5 per cent a year over the next five years.
Mr Calderon does not take charge of AngloGold until September, and was cautious about talking about future plans for AngloGold until his feet are firmly planted under the chief executive’s desk.
But he conceded the uncertainty around the company’s future had hurt its credibility, pointing to the discounts on its valuation by resources analysts.
“If you look at the analysts and their models, they value this company at 50 per cent lower multiples than our competitors,” he said.
“So if you tackle all those things around giving the market reasons to believe that our projects will be completed in time, and that the costs are going to be more predictable – in a period of relatively medium term, a lot of value can be had in added into this company and that‘s what I plan to do.”
“You have the raw material, you have the resources, you have the people, it’s about executing and bringing that credibility. In a way it’s in a good place to be.”
Mr Calderon said the AngloGold board had agreed that he would remain based in Australia in the near term, but said that decision would be reviewed as future plans for the company – including a potential London listing for its stock – are firmed up.
AngloGold shares are currently traded on the New York, Johannesburg and Australian exchanges.
The company’s Australian-traded shares closed up 12c, or 2.4 per cent, at $5.21 on Tuesday, putting on an additional 9c after the late afternoon announcement of Mr Calderon’s appointment.
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