Seismic events at AngloGold Ashanti's Savuka Mine
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| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
AngloGold Ashanti regrets to announce that on Friday 22 May, a series of seismic events was experienced at the company’s Savuka mine near Carltonville, South Africa.
Emergency response procedures were immediately activated. Within several hours of the incident being reported, all employees who were underground at the time of the incident were evacuated through the shaft infrastructure at the neighboring TauTona mine.
Unfortunately, in the course of the seismic events, a pump attendant, was fatally injured.
Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani commented: "It is a matter of personal concern to me that in the course of the incident the life of one of our colleagues was lost. I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the friends and family and reiterate my objective of enabling AngloGold Ashanti to operate deep-level mines in South Africa without fatalities."
"I would however like to commend the management team at Savuka for their prompt and effective response to this incident. The fact that we were able to evacuate all employees from underground within such a short space of time reflects the high state of preparedness of the mine as well as the robust and well-rehearsed emergency procedures in place. The fact that secondary escape ways are available at Savuka also assisted the speedy evacuation."
Operations at the mine have been suspended. The extent of the damage caused by the incident will be assessed over the course of the weekend and additional updates provided as the situation becomes clearer. Savuka produced 14,000oz of gold in the first quarter of 2009, just over 1% of total group production.
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| Joanne Jones (Media) |
+27 (0) 11 637 6813 |
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jjones@anglogoldashanti.com |
Disclaimer
Certain statements made in this communication, including, without limitation, those concerning AngloGold Ashanti’s strategy to reduce its gold hedging position including the extent and effects of the reduction, the economic outlook for the gold mining industry, expectations regarding gold prices, production, cash costs and other operating results, growth prospects and outlook of AngloGold Ashanti’s operations, individually or in the aggregate, including the completion and commencement of commercial operations of certain of AngloGold Ashanti’s exploration and production projects and completion of acquisitions and dispositions, AngloGold Ashanti’s liquidity and capital resources, and expenditure and the outcome and consequences of any pending litigation proceedings, contain certain forward-looking statements regarding AngloGold Ashanti’s operations, economic performance and financial condition. Although AngloGold Ashanti believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Accordingly, results could differ materially from those set out in the forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors, changes in economic and market conditions, success of business and operating initiatives, changes in the regulatory environment and other government actions, fluctuations in gold prices and exchange rates, and business and operational risk management. For a discussion of such factors, refer to AngloGold Ashanti's annual report for the year ended 31 December 2008, which was distributed to shareholders on 27 March 2009 and the company’s annual report on Form 20-F, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States on May 5, 2009 as amended on May 6, 2009. AngloGold Ashanti undertakes no obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after today’s date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to AngloGold Ashanti or any person acting on its behalf are qualified by the cautionary statements herein.
AngloGold Ashanti posts information that is important to investors on the main page of its website at www.anglgoldashanti.com and under the "Investors" tab on the main page. This information is updated regularly. Investors should visit this website to obtain important information about AngloGold Ashanti. | |
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