AngloGold Ashanti plc (AU)

AngloGold Ashanti said on 31 July 2026 that second-quarter free cash flow rose 36 percent to $727 million 1. Headline earnings, a profit measure used in South Africa, rose 58 percent to $1.0 billion from $639 million a year earlier 1.

The company said the gain was supported by cost management and a 35 percent rise in the average gold price received, to $4,446 an ounce 1. An interim dividend of $364 million, or 72 US cents a share, was declared 1.

Mining output fell 1. Group gold production was 744,000 ounces, down from 804,000, mainly because Serra Grande was sold and Obuasi in Ghana produced less after a contractor died in April 1.

The company expects production in the second half to be higher than in the first and left its 2026 guidance unchanged 1. Shareholders approved a repurchase programme of up to $2.0 billion on 23 July 2026, but it still needs any regulatory approvals 2.

The open question is whether output rises as the company expects and whether the repurchase begins 1.

The company began in 1998, when Anglo American's South African gold mining interests were merged into one business 3. The vehicle for the merger took the name AngloGold Limited 3. The aim was a single, focused, independent gold mining company 3.

It then spread beyond South Africa and joined with Ashanti Goldfields, which gave the company its present name 3. Anglo American sold down its stake and later left altogether 3.

Two large new mines, Tropicana in Australia and Kibali in the DRC, were commissioned in the second half of 2013 3. Both still produce gold today 3.

The next stretch was a retreat from South Africa 3. The company sold its remaining South African producing assets, including the Mponeng mine, to Harmony, and sold the Sadiola and Morila mines in Mali 3. Its centre of gravity moved to Africa's other mines, Australia and the Americas 3.

A restructuring then made the parent an England and Wales company with a primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange 3. It also added Nevada: it bought Corvus Gold, which owned the North Bullfrog project, in January 2022 3.

Alliance News reported that the company completed its takeover of Centamin, owner of the Sukari mine in Egypt 6. Centamin holders received 0.06983 of a new AngloGold share and $0.125 in cash for each share 6. Sukari was reported to add 450,000 ounces a year 6.

On 1 May 2025 it sold the Doropo and Archean-Birimian Contact projects in Cote d'Ivoire to Resolute Mining 3. On 1 December 2025 it sold Serra Grande in Brazil for $73 million in cash 3. On 23 October 2025 it bought Augusta Gold in Nevada 3.

Revenue followed the gold market and the mine count 3. Gold income rose from $5,673 million in 2024 to $9,730 million in 2025, mainly because the average gold price received and the ounces sold both rose 3. The average gold price received by managed operations went from $2,393 to $3,466 an ounce 3.

Sales volume also rose, from 2,370,000 ounces in 2024 to 2,807,000 ounces in 2025 3. Profit for the year rose to $3,174 million from $1,049 million, and an earlier year had been a loss of $222 million 3.

Costs rose too 3. Total operating costs went up 26 percent, to $3,655 million, mainly because royalties, which scale with revenue, and operating costs both increased 3.

What it mines

AngloGold Ashanti calls itself an independent, global gold mining company 3. Its main product is gold, which is processed on site into doore bars and sent to refiners before being sold to bullion banks 3. Silver in Argentina and sulphuric acid in Brazil are by-products 3.

In 2025 it had ten operations in eight countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, the DRC and Tanzania, plus projects in the United States and Colombia 3. Its workforce, contractors included, averaged 41,416 people in 2025 3.

Africa, Australia and the Americas

Africa is the largest region 3. Africa supplied $7,152 million of gold income in the year, 74 percent of the total 3. Its mines are Geita in Tanzania, Obuasi and Iduapriem in Ghana, Siguiri in Guinea and Sukari in Egypt, plus a 45 percent share of Kibali in the DRC 3.

In Australia the company owns Sunrise Dam outright and 70 percent of Tropicana 3. Tropicana produced 43 percent more gold in the second quarter of 2026, because more open pit ore was processed 1.

The Americas are Cerro Vanguardia in Argentina and the AGA Mineracao mines in Brazil 3. Cuiaba, in Brazil, grew output 6 percent in the second quarter of 2026 1.

Obuasi's output dropped 32 percent in the second quarter of 2026 on equipment problems, compounded by a rock pass incident in April that killed a contractor 1. Group costs also rose: all-in sustaining costs, which add upkeep spending to cash costs, were $2,039 an ounce against $1,666 a year earlier 1.

People and rivals

Alberto Calderon is chief executive 1. Jochen Tilk is chair, and the company named Paul Graves, a former chief executive of Rio Tinto Lithium, an independent non-executive director from 1 October 2026 5.

The company says it does not compete for gold sales, since gold trades in world markets 3. Gold producers do compete against each other for mining assets, exploration opportunities and staff 3. Barrick operates Kibali, the DRC mine in which the company owns 45 percent 3.

Current problems

In Colombia, the environmental licensing authority archived the Quebradona licence application, and the mining agency denied extensions for Quebradona and La Colosa in late 2025 3. La Colosa was sold to Mineros on 13 April 2026 for about $10 million in cash and up to $60 million more if conditions are met 2.

The umbrella, in words

The company is one brand, AngloGold Ashanti, with each mine run through local subsidiaries 3. Ownership ties differ by mine: it owns 85 percent of Siguiri, 92.5 percent of Cerro Vanguardia and 70 percent of Tropicana, whose other 30 percent Regis Resources owns 23. It owns 50 percent of Sukari, which it reports on a consolidated basis, and 45 percent of Kibali 23.

It invested about $67 million in shares of Gold X2 Mining and Thesis Gold & Silver in the half year 2. In Nevada its claims cover about 156,000 acres around Beatty, and all projects there are wholly owned 3.

Each ordinary share carries one voting right 2. BlackRock reported owning 8.2 percent of the shares, 41,370,957 in all, in a Schedule 13G/A 7.

The company said that its full-year 2026 guidance for production, costs and capital spending, issued in February, is unchanged 1. It expects production to be significantly weighted toward the second half, with unit costs trending lower as volumes rise 1.

It expects the remaining 2026 cash taxes to be paid in equal quarterly instalments of between $230 million and $250 million, subject to gold prices 1.

The shareholder-approved repurchase programme allows up to $2.0 billion, but the company says it need not buy any set number of shares and may suspend it at any time 2.

The company said it has found brownfield projects, meaning expansions of existing mines, at Obuasi, Geita, Sukari, Siguiri and Cuiaba with the potential to raise gold output from 2029 onwards 1.

In Nevada, North Bullfrog is expected to be the first project to enter production, and its detailed engineering was about 70 percent complete at the end of 2025 3. The Arthur Gold Project, with an initial reserve of 4.9 million ounces from a pre-feasibility study, would follow 3.

On 25 September 2026 the company hosted investors in Beatty to show progress toward what it called the newest major gold-producing district in the US, anchored first by North Bullfrog and then by Arthur 4.