Former Absa CEO, Maria Ramos, to join board of AngloGold Ashanti

Maria Ramos, chairwoman, AngloGold Ashanti

FORMER banker Maria Ramos is to join the board of AngloGold Ashanti as a non-executive director, the gold producer said in an announcement today.

“I’m delighted to welcome Maria to the AngloGold Ashanti board,” the firm’s chairman Sipho Pityana, said. “Maria’s diverse background and extensive experience will add further depth to the Board’s financial and strategic capabilities.”

Ramos was until February CEO of Absa Group, one of South Africa’s largest banking institutions. She was previously CEO of Transnet, the state-owned logistics and transport company and director-general of the National Treasury.

AngloGold Ashanti recently announced its intention to divest from its remaining South African assets in Mponeng mine, an underground operation and its surface miner, Mine Waste Solutions.

“The investment to extend Mponeng’s life beyond eight years has very strong competition for capital and other scarce resources from a host of other projects in our portfolio which at current planning assumptions are more attractive,” said Kelvin Dushnisky, CEO of AngloGold Ashanti in an announcement on May 9.

Mponeng in particular requires significant fresh capital in order to extend its current life of mine beyond the eight years contained in reserves, totalling 11.6 million ounces. Dushnisky declined to detail the cash required but the mine potentially had 20 years of mining left. The mining right ran until 2037.