Our approach
At AngloGold Ashanti, our approach to sustainability stems from and is guided by our purpose: Mining to empower people and societies.
At AngloGold Ashanti, our approach to sustainability stems from and is guided by our purpose: Mining to empower people and societies.
Our approach encompasses:
- Following our North Star – our Purpose and Values underpin every decision we make and action we take
- Engaging with our stakeholders with respect, consistency, clarity and understanding
- Ensuring we monitor and manage our performance against our targets, that our systems and processes are subject to assurance, and that we communicate our approach and performance on material matters regularly and transparently
- Securing our social licence to operate by making a positive impact today, and leaving a lasting legacy
Policies and standards:
- Management Standard: Stakeholder engagement English, pdf
Sustainability strategy and framework
Our sustainability purpose: To strengthen our social licence to operate and to ensure AngloGold Ashanti is the mine developer of choice for host governments and communities, guides what we do and how we do it.
Sustainability is a fundamental aspect of our business ethos and strategy, and is deeply ingrained in our corporate values. Central to our approach is the integration of a diverse set of functional and operating disciplines across all jurisdictions, to deliver improved and lasting positive outcomes for our employees and for our host governments and communities. Ultimately, we know that a company that operates in a sustainable manner is positive for all stakeholders.
Our sustainability strategy encompasses safety and health, community benefit on a broad scale and fostering vibrant business operations. In addition to paying taxes and employing and procuring locally to the greatest extent possible, our initiatives focus on safeguarding people and communities, fostering relationships based on open dialogue and trust, responsible environmental stewardship, running a sustainable business and committing to climate action and resilience.
Empowering people
- Ensuring safety, health and wellbeing
- Attracting, developing and retaining talent, drawing from our host communities wherever possible
- Strengthening our culture, driving inclusion, diversity and equity
Empowering communities
- Supporting community resilience including through corporate social investment, local employment and procurement
- Addressing ASM
- Ensuring effective security, and respecting human rights and rights of indigenous peoples
Caring for the environment
- Climate action and pursuing resilience
- Responsible tailings management
- Managing our emissions, effluents and waste
- Water stewardship
- Responsible rehabilitation, closure, preventing biodiversity loss
Ensuring best practice governance
- Business ethics, compliance and disclosure
- Navigating geopolitical matters and
government relations - Responsible and secure sourcing and
local procurement - Cyber safety
Materiality and material sustainability issues
The Company’s double materiality assessment is integrated into the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework by incorporating both financial materiality (impact on the Company’s financial performance) and environmental and social materiality (impact on the environment and society). This ensures that the Company considers a comprehensive view of risks and opportunities that may affect not only its financial outcomes but also its broader societal and environmental responsibilities.
Our process follows the
‘double materiality’ framework
Phase 1: Context
This involved a thorough review of potential material sustainability issues, drawing on insights from peer reporting, alignment with current and emerging disclosure standards, and feedback from ratings agencies. This approach ensured the issues considered were relevant, comprehensive, and reflected both industry best practices and stakeholder expectations. This review resulted in an initial list of material sustainability issues, which was carefully refined to identify the 17 issues most pertinent to our industry and sector.
Phase 2: Discovery of impact
In this phase we undertook interviews with 11 external and 20 internal stakeholders to identify material sustainability issues. They included:
- External stakeholders: investors, market analysts, media and an industry body
- Internal stakeholders: Board, Executive management and Senior leadership
This process resulted in the identification of 36 potential material sustainability issues that influence our ability to create, sustain, or potentially erode social, environmental, and economic value from both an impact and financial materiality perspective.
Phase 3: Ranking
Finally, members of executive and senior management were asked to rank issues from the perspective of both impact and financial materiality, based on our definitions (alongside). Respondents were also asked to indicate the time horizon – short, medium and long term – associated with impacts and, for financial materiality, whether the issue was primarily a risk or an opportunity.
These issues were then reviewed by the internal sustainability team. The ranking was adjusted to reflect broader industry sustainability issues and issues raised by stakeholders.
The final list of 14 material sustainability issues was reviewed and ratified by the SES Committee and Board.
For more see the 2024 Sustainability Report, Outcomes of the 2024 assessment
ESG commitments
We subscribe to a number of external principles, charters and standards that reflect our values and commitment to ESG principles – and allow our stakeholders to hold us accountable. Our participation in industry initiatives enables us to inform and influence global standards and practices as well as gain insight into emerging expectations, issues and risks.

AngloGold Ashanti is a member of the ICMM and is committed to its principles, position statements and performance expectations that guide member companies on continuously improving their sustainability performance. ICMM member companies commit to reporting on their sustainability performance publicly every year in line with the standards set by the GRI. www.icmm.com

The International Cyanide Management Code (ICMI) for the manufacture, transport, and use of cyanide in the production of gold was developed by a multi-stakeholder steering committee under the guidance of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the then International Council on Metals and the Environment (ICME).
www.cyanidecode.org
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a global initiative which promotes transparent and accountable disclosure and use of revenues from natural resources. AngloGold Ashanti discloses all information in line with country-specific EITI processes and within annual country-level reports.
eiti.org
AngloGold Ashanti uses the WGC Conflict-Free Gold Standard as an important tool to help ensure the gold we produce is conflict-free.
www.gold.org
The United Nations SDGs focus efforts to end poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change. We have integrated the SDGs across our business.
www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals
The UNGC is a voluntary international corporate citizen network, representing partnerships among businesses, governments, civil society and the United Nations. Its aim is to advance responsible corporate citizenship and universal social and environmental principles to meet the challenges of globalisation. AngloGold Ashanti has been an active Board member of the UNGC since 2004 and continues to meaningfully accelerate and scale business impacts to achieve the UNGC goals. As a member organisation, we participate in UNGC programmes such as Target Gender Equality and Young SDG Innovators.
www.unglobalcompact.org

These are a set of principles designed to guide companies in maintaining the safety and security of their operations within an operating framework that encourages respect for human rights. AngloGold Ashanti annually reports on its efforts to implement and promote the VPSHR.
www.voluntaryprinciples.org

We aspire to contribute to Agenda 2063, which is aimed at transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future by delivering on a set of seven aspirations, each with its own set of goals.
au.int/en/agenda2063/overview
The World Economic Forum’s Mining and Metals Industry community is a high-level group of peers dedicated to ensuring thought leadership on the long-term sustainability of the industry and its value to society. AngloGold Ashanti seeks to play its role in mitigating the impacts of climate change and integrating ESG considerations in how the industry operates and interacts with its stakeholders.
www.weforum.org/communities/mining-and-metals
The GRI is an independent, international organisation that helps organisations communicate their impacts on the environment, economy and people, including human rights, through their reporting standards. AngloGold Ashanti reports in accordance with the GRI Standards.
www.globalreporting.org
SASB aims to help connect businesses and investors on the financial impacts of sustainability through industry-specific standards. Effective 1 August 2022, SASB became part of the IFRS Foundation and its standards will ultimately transition into the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards. AngloGold Ashanti’s reporting against SASB positions us well to potentially align with IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards in the future. www.sasb.org
The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework offers a global benchmark for climate change disclosure. AngloGold Ashanti has adopted the recommendations of the TCFD and commits to incrementally reporting in line with this framework. For more information on our TCFD-aligned disclosures, see our Annual Report 2024