(Corrects to remove $1.4 bln capital expenditure figure fortailings dam work and makes clear when details will be releasedin paragraph 11) *
AngloGold Ashanti to suspend Brazil plant *
Production likely to fall, miner says *
2022 costs under control despite inflation
*
Shares down 7%
By Helen Reid and Nelson Banya Feb 22 (Reuters) - AngloGold Ashanti has noplans to make acquisitions or to be bought, preferring to focuson internal growth, CEO Alberto Calderon said on Wednesday,after Newmont's $16.9 billion Newcrest bid reignited talk ofdeals in the gold sector. "The greatest value we can create is internal," Calderonsaid. "Adding value with M&A and being able to justify a premiumis very difficult - I'm not saying impossible, but it isdifficult." Asked if AngloGold could be acquired, Calderon said he couldnot predict that. "We will stick to what we are doing," he said. AngloGold shares were down 5% by 0910 GMT after the minersaid 2023 output would likely fall as a plant in Brazil shutsdown while improvements are made to a tailings dam. Tailings dams store the huge volumes of toxic sludgeproduced when separating minerals from waste rock. In common with other miners, AngloGold has been improvingtailings dams after breaches in recent years killed hundreds ofpeople in Brazil and elsewhere, prompting the development of anew international standard on dam safety.
Johannesburg-based AngloGold said 2023 production excludingthe Cuiaba mine - where the processing plant is being suspended- is expected at 2.45 million ounces to 2.6 million ounces ofgold. The miner has temporarily stopped adding tailings to the damat Cuiaba, as it plans to increase buttressing to bring it intoline with a Canadian safety standard. The dam is safe, stable,and compliant with Brazilian regulations, AngloGold said. "Tailings dams are something that we all agree cannot fail,period," Calderon said.
AngloGold expects Cuiaba to produce 180,000 ounces of goldthis year, down 25% from 2022.
Calderon said he could not yet give a timeline for theengineering work on the dam, and would inform the market laterabout the cost of the work. AngloGold's headline earnings per share for 2022 fell by 12%to 129 U.S. cents, in the middle of a guidance range the companygave last week.
AngloGold produced 2.742 million ounces in 2022, an 11%improvement on the previous year, and it managed to keep costsunder control despite surging inflation. The company's all-in sustaining costs - a measure of theoverall cost of mining - increased by 2% year over year, whiletotal cash costs per ounce increased by 6%. (Reporting by Helen Reid and Nelson Banya in Johannesburg andMuhammed Husain in Bengaluru; editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee,Jason Neely and Barbara Lewis)
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