AngloGold’s Dushnisky appointed chairman of World Gold Council as bullion soars

Kelvin Dushnisky, CEO, AngloGold Ashanti

KELVIN Dushnisky, CEO of AngloGold Ashanti, has been appointed chairman of the World Gold Council, the organisation said in an announcement.

Dushnisky succeeds David Harquail who has been chairman since 2017. Among other industry positions, Dushnisky is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Shanghai Gold Exchange.

“I believe the World Gold Council has never been stronger and more influential than it is today and I look forward to further advancing the World Gold Council’s work,” said Dushnisky in a statement that also recognised the achievements of Harquail at the council.

Dushnisky’s appointment comes as the dollar price of gold scales fresh highs among global concern regarding the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) virus.

Bullion has performed strongly throughout 2019 improving about $400 per ounce. It has helped gold miners to strong profits, including AngloGold Ashanti which last week announced a 57% lift in the 2019 total dividend (74% in rand terms) of 11 US cents per share. This was on the back of a higher dollar gold price which surged 21% in the second half of the year and was on average 10% higher year-on-year at $1,387/oz.

The gold price helped offset a 4% decline in AngloGold’s annual production which fell to 3.28 million oz at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $992/oz. Production of 3.05 to 3.3 million oz at an AISC of $1,040 and $1,100/oz has been forecast for this year.

“We’re working hard to deliver on our strategy and to capture the wider margin in this strong gold price environment,” said Dushnisky in notes to the firm’s 2019 results announcement. It reported a 72% increase in full year headline earnings of $379m whilst free cash flow from operations more than doubled to $127m year-on-year.