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AGL - Anglo American plc - Anglo American delivers third major growth project in 2011 Anglo American plc ("the Company") Incorporated in the United Kingdom (Registration number: 3564138) Short name: Anglo Share code: AGL ISIN number: GB00B1XZS820 Anglo American delivers third major growth project in 2011 Anglo American announces the successful commissioning of the third of its four major growth projects during 2011, delivering on the company`s strategic plan to drive substantial organic volume growth from approved projects across its copper (+43%), nickel (+180%) and iron ore (+80%) businesses. The commissioning of Kolomela - a new 9 Mtpa iron ore mine in South Africa`s Northern Cape - follows the delivery of the 36,000 tpa Barro Alto nickel project in Brazil in March 2011 and the expansion to double production from the Los Bronces copper mine in Chile in November 2011. Kolomela has been commissioned five months ahead of schedule, on budget and has shipped its first product from the port of Saldanha to customers in China. Chris Griffith, CEO of Anglo American`s Kumba Iron Ore business, said: "The first shipment of 100,000 tons of Kolomela lump ore left the port of Saldanha on 19 December 2011 on its journey to the port of Qingdao in China, from where it will be sold to Kumba`s existing customers. This shipment is a significant milestone towards achieving the production ramp-up schedule of 4-5 million tonnes in 2012 and the expectation of reaching full production of 9 Mtpa in 2013. The commissioning of the Kolomela project is in line with our growth strategy of ramping our South African production up to 70 Mtpa by 2019." Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: "The commissioning of Kolomela five months ahead of schedule is a remarkable achievement and caps a year of successful major project delivery for Anglo American. Three of our four major projects are now ramping up to produce significant near term volume growth at highly competitive operating costs and capital intensity ratios. Our focus now is on achieving safe and reliable nameplate capacities across these three new operations, on continuing to progress our Minas-Rio iron ore project in Brazil - which with Kolomela and Sishen will enable us to present customers with product optionality from different geographies - and on advancing our other approved and pre-approval projects, such as Grosvenor in Australia and Quellaveco in Peru." The fourth and largest of Anglo American`s major projects - Minas-Rio - has made very significant progress. Minas-Rio has secured a number of major licences and permits during the year; the offshore and onshore works at the port are on schedule; more than 90% of land access has been secured along the 525km pipeline route and almost 200km of pipe has been installed; and the civil works at the beneficiation plant are well under way. As with other complex greenfield mining projects, a number of irregular issues, such as the discovery of caves at the beneficiation plant site which require specialised assessment, continue to cause delays to the work scheduling, in addition to outstanding land access and an evolving permitting environment. Anglo American is reviewing the budgetary impact, is taking appropriate cost mitigation measures and expects to contain the capital increase to approximately 15% of current capital expenditure guidance in what is a high inflationary environment in the Brazilian mining industry. First ore on ship is unchanged and targeted for the second half of 2013. Notes to editors: Anglo American is one of the world`s largest mining companies, is headquartered in the UK and listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. Anglo American`s portfolio of mining businesses spans bulk commodities - iron ore and manganese, metallurgical coal and thermal coal; base metals - copper and nickel; and precious metals and minerals - in which it is a global leader in both platinum and diamonds. Anglo American is committed to the highest standards of safety and responsibility across all its businesses and geographies and to making a sustainable difference in the development of the communities around its operations. The company`s mining operations and extensive pipeline of growth projects are located in southern Africa, South America, Australia, North America and Asia. www.angloamerican.com For further information, please contact: Media Investors UK UK James Wyatt-Tilby Leng Lau Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 8759 Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 8540 Caroline Crampton (nee Metcalfe)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 2192 Leisha Wemyss Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 8607
20 December 2011 Sponsor: UBS South Africa (Pty) Ltd Date: 20/12/2011 17:00:24 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on, information disseminated through SENS.
