Several of the South African mines have been renamed. The mines are Matjhabeng (Western Holdings), Bambanani (Freegold 1), Tshepong (Freegold 2 & 4), Joel (H J Joel), Great Noligwa (Vaal Reefs No. 8 shaft), Kopanang (Vaal Reefs No. 9 shaft), Tau Lekoa (Vaal Reefs No. 10 shaft), Moab Khotsong (Vaal Reefs No.11 shaft), Western Deep Levels (WDL) East, WDL South, WDL West, Elandsrand and Deelkraal.

Short-life shafts ? those without the potential to produce gold at R40 000 per kilogram ($204 per ounce) ? were sold off. This was done to provide the company with cost-competitive production and thus a secure future.

The crucial aspects in 1998 were:

Gold output;

Productivity, calculated according to the square metres worked and the grams produced
per total employee costed (TEC); and

Cash costs measured on a dollar/ounce basis.

Gold production for 1998 decreased by 10 per cent against a planned 17 per cent reduction, from 239 tonnes (7.7 million ounces) in 1997 to 215 tonnes (6.9 million ounces) in 1998. The best improvement in gold production year on year came from WDL East mine which produced 22,5 tonnes (723 000 ounces) of gold in 1998, an increase of 23 per cent. There was a corresponding 23 per cent improvement in terms of grams per TEC: from 225 in 1997 to 276. Great Noligwa mine was another outstanding performer with a 17 per cent increase in production to 33,5 tonnes of gold. Productivity was also up, showing a 16 per cent improvement in terms of grams per TEC, from 219 in 1997 to 255.

AngloGold has two open-pit mines on the African continent: Sadiola in Mali (pictured here) and
Navachab in Namibia.

The signing of productivity agreements for the South African mining operations on, for example, shift rosters, additional production shifts and other initiatives such as self-directed work teams, led to an improvement in the number of square metres worked per TEC, from 3,58 in 1997 to 4,16 in 1998. Good performances on this front came from Elandsrand mine and Tau Lekoa mine which achieved 6,03 and 5,79 respectively.

At Ergo, material treated (50,7 million tonnes) represented a record throughput for the operation. However, due to lower grades there was a 5 per cent decrease in gold production to 12,3 tonnes (395 000 ounces) in 1998. Productivity targets, both in terms of kilograms of gold produced and tonnes treated per TEC, were achieved.

Sadiola mine enjoyed an outstanding year, its second in production. Compared with the previous year, there was a 32 per cent rise in the gold produced to 5 983 kilograms. An increase in total tonnes mined was in line with longer-term ore generation requirements and was represented by a year on year improvement in both plant throughput (23 per cent) and grade (7 per cent). In the latter part of 1998 the plant capacity was increased to the equivalent of 5,2 million tonnes per annum compared with its original design of 4 million tonnes. This happened without any additional capital expenditure.

As a whole the operations made good progress in containing costs. Cash costs improved by 18 per cent in 1998 from $279 per ounce to $229 per ounce. However, in rand per kilogram terms the improvement was only 2 per cent, to R40 439 per kilogram.