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Serra Grande, Brazil

Serra Grande is located in central Brazil in the state of Goiás, about 5km from the city of Crixás.

Ownership

100%
AngloGold Ashanti

Mineral Resource

Stacked rocks [icon]
3.82Moz
of gold

Gold production

Production [icon]
83koz

All-in sustaining costs

Costs [icon]
$2,220/oz

Capital expenditure

Cashflow [icon]
$82m

Workforce

Water recycling [icon]
1,980
including contractors

Overview and locality

Mineração Serra Grande (MSG or Serra Grande) is wholly owned by AngloGold Ashanti and is located in the northwest of Goiás State, central Brazil.

The Serra Grande operation comprises three underground mines, namely Mina III (including orebody IV, V and Ingá), Mina Nova (including Pequizão orebody) and Mina Palmeiras. The open pits mine the outcrop of Mina III Inferior and Structure IV zones, and Pequizão. Three mining methods are used underground: sub-level stoping (bottom-up and top-down), cut and fill, and room and pillar.

One dedicated metallurgical plant, with an annual capacity of 1.5Mt, treats all ore mined.

A brief history

  • Exploration began in 1973 with a phase of detailed mapping and diamond drilling, which continued until 1976.
  • The mining operation started up in 1986 in Mina III and the metallurgical plant start-up was in 1989.
  • Annual production peaked at 193,000oz in 2006, supported by high grades.
  • In 2009, the metallurgical plant was expanded to 1.3Mtpa to compensate for a declining grade-profile.
  • In 2012, AngloGold Ashanti acquired the 50% stake that belonged to the Kinross Group.
Map Brazil, location of Serra Grande

ESG statistics 2021

Band-aid [icon]

All injury frequency rate

5.56 per million hours worked

Caring [icon]

Community investment

$21,000

Incident report [icon]

Reportable environmental incidents

0

Water recycling [icon]

Water use

1,850ML

Water recycling [icon]

Water use efficiency

1.50kL/t

Energy [icon]

Energy consumption

0.70PJ

Energy [icon]

Energy use intensity

0.56GJ/t

Wind [icon]

GHG emissions

35kt

Wind [icon]

GHG emission intensity

28kg/t CO2e

Rehabilitation [icon]

Rehabilitation liabilities

$16m

Related stories

Serra Grande achieves full conversion to filtered tailings
Serra Grande achieves full conversion to filtered tailings

In September 2021, AngloGold Ashanti’s Serra Grande mine became the first mine in Brazil to implement a 100% filtered tailings disposal system. This means that, at the end of ore processing, all the tailings generated go through a drying process after which it is placed in filtered tailings stacks. Wet tailings are no longer sent to the tailings storage facilities.

Tailings storage facility management, Brazil
Tailings storage facility management in Brazil

We have engaged with concerned communities to demonstrate the effectiveness of our TSF management systems. In 2019, more the 850 people from our nearby communities participated in visits to TSFs.

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Covid-19 response: Supporting employees and communities in Brazil

Making sure work environments were safe for employees in the face of COVID-19, was just one aspect of AngloGold Ashanti’s response to the pandemic. This video outlines the humanitarian support provided to hospitals and social partners in an effort to fight COVID-19.

Plant biodiversity preservation programme, Brazil
Brazil’s sustainable partnership programme

AngloGold Ashanti has a number of partnerships in place that help us to live up to our commitment to make the communities in which we operate better off because of our presence.

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