Othon Maia, Director of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs, AngloGold Ashanti
Can you introduce AngloGold Ashanti?
AngloGold Ashanti is one of the largest gold producers operating in Brazil. In addition to gold production, the company is active in energy generation for internal operations, real estate management, and sulfuric acid production. AngloGold Ashanti has gold mines and metallurgical and processing plants in the states of Minas Gerais and Goiás. In 2022, AngloGold Ashanti produced 399,000 oz of gold.
What are AngloGold Ashanti’s ESG strategies? We achieved two major milestones in 2022: First, we reached 100% dry waste disposal, and second, we achieved a 33% reduction in carbon emissions. The latter was originally scheduled for 2030, and was achieved significantly ahead of schedule. To reach this milestone, we have transitioned to 100% consumption of electrical energy from certified renewable sources.
AngloGold Ashanti has also invested in the automation of mine infrastructure equipment (pumping and ventilation) and our diesel generation plant. Additionally, we have implemented underground water recirculation systems, optimized refrigeration plants, replaced air compressors with more efficient models, and improved our energy monitoring and management system.
In 2022, AngloGold Ashanti invested approximately R$18 million in actions related to environmental management, and the company preserves 11,000 hectares of nature.
Can you discuss AngloGold Ashanti’s approach to tailings management?
All of our dams have received stability condition statements issued by an external auditor. The structures are also included in the Integrated Mining Dam Management System (SIGBM) of the National Mining Agency (ANM). Our dams are monitored daily by a specialized AngloGold Ashanti team that checks the condition of the structure and assesses the water level and the functioning of the drainage system, ensuring that no incident occurs.
Rodrigo Barbosa, CEO, Aura Minerals
Could you describe Aura Minerals' growth over the past years and its current portfolio?
Aura Minerals is a TSX-listed exploration and mining company. Aura started as listed company in TSX in 2006 by acquiring a few projects, but they did not perform well due to the financial crisis in 2009. Since 2017, when a new investor, the Yamana founder who bought over 50% of the company's shares, while the Board invited me to join as a CEO. After 3 years of several initiatives and hard work, we experienced positive results that led us to win #1 performance in TSX twice (2021 and 2022).
We went from producing 120,000 gold equivalent oz/y in 2017 to 250,000 oz/y in 2023, and the development of the greenfiled projects in our portfolio will take us to 450,000 oz/y by 2025. Currently, we are operating four mines: Aranzazu, an underground copper-gold mine located in Mexico; San Andrés, an open pit mine, located in Honduras; and two operations in Brazil, EPP mine in Mato Grosso and the Almas mine in Tocantins, which is about to commence commercial production. Finally, Aura four additional greenfield projects: Borborema, which is set to commence construction soon; Matupá, which we aim to start building next year; Serra da Estrela in Brazil, which is in an intense exploration program; and Tolda Fira in Colombia, that is still on permitting and exploration investments.
What is Aura Minerals' exploration approach?
Aura has 650,000 hectares of mineral exploration rights. In 2020, we started investing significantly in our exploration programs with US$20 million, and this year the budget is over US$23 million. The main objective is to extend the lifespan of the mines, especially EPP and Aranzazu.
How does Aura Minerals promote ESG criteria?
We have decentralized decision-making to give more autonomy to each mining operation, so people who are closer to the local communities and understand their needs and dynamics can implement better ESG strategies.