CompanyGraph
AngloGold Ashanti plc
AU · NYSE Arca · United States
Extracts gold from eleven geologically distinct ore bodies across ten sovereign jurisdictions, converting jurisdiction-specific permits and deposit metallurgy into refined bullion priced daily by the London Bullion Market Association.
AngloGold Ashanti converts jurisdiction-granted permits and site-specific metallurgical configurations into refined bullion, but because each leach circuit is irreversibly bound to the deposit it serves, the entire production chain is a sequential cascade of authorizations rather than a fungible operation — meaning any single broken link halts output at that site. Water rights at African operations, particularly seasonal availability at Geita and Siguiri, set the physical ceiling on leach-circuit throughput during dry periods, and no capital redeployment can substitute for legally authorized water volume at a geographically fixed site, making this the constraint that equipment capacity and investment cannot override. Currency devaluation in Argentina, Ghana, and Tanzania widens the gap between local operating costs and US-dollar-denominated gold proceeds at the same time that shifting precipitation patterns tighten the water input that already limits throughput, so both pressures compound rather than offset each other. The eleven-jurisdiction structure functions as a production buffer only as long as sovereign relationships hold in parallel — if permit revocations, taxation restructuring, or civil disruption cascade across enough jurisdictions at once, geographic spread inverts from a hedge into a concentration risk, collapsing the mechanism the entire system depends on.
How does this company make money?
Gold is sold per ounce at the London Bullion Market Association daily fix price, which sets the reference rate used in physical gold transactions globally. The amount received is calculated as the number of ounces produced multiplied by the prevailing spot gold price, minus processing and transportation costs to the delivery point.
What makes this company hard to replace?
Established government relationships and permit histories in each operating country give the company an approval advantage when seeking to expand existing concessions, which competitors would need years of in-country presence to replicate. Processing infrastructure already in place across eleven sites represents substantial fixed capital that any entrant would need to duplicate from the ground up. Workforces trained in site-specific ore metallurgy and safety procedures carry knowledge tied to the physical characteristics of each individual deposit.
What limits this company?
Water rights and discharge permits at African operations — specifically the seasonal availability constraint at Geita in Tanzania and Siguiri in Guinea — set the physical ceiling on leach-circuit throughput during dry periods. No capital redeployment can substitute for legally authorized water volume at a geographically fixed processing site.
What does this company depend on?
The operations depend on mining permits granted by ten national governments, including those of Tanzania, Guinea, Argentina, Australia, and Brazil. Cyanide supply is required to run the gold leaching circuits that chemically extract gold from crushed ore. Diesel fuel powers mobile mining equipment at remote sites where road or grid infrastructure is limited. Each operation also depends on either an electrical grid connection or on-site power generation. Finally, explosives permits and a supply of ammonium nitrate are needed to carry out the blasting that breaks ore from rock.
Who depends on this company?
London Bullion Market Association-accredited refineries depend on consistent doré delivery schedules to maintain their gold supply chains; interruption disrupts their throughput. Central banks in emerging markets that accumulate gold as a reserve asset depend on steady refined gold supply from producers. Jewelry manufacturers in India and China whose production planning is built around predictable gold availability from established producers are also exposed to supply disruption.
How does this company scale?
Geological expertise and metallurgical processing knowledge can be carried across new mine sites as the portfolio expands. However, each of the eleven ore bodies depletes over time, and replacing those reserves requires site-specific exploration work in each operating jurisdiction — a process that cannot be shortcut with capital alone, forcing continuous exploration investment.
What external forces can significantly affect this company?
Currency devaluation in operating countries including Argentina, Ghana, and Tanzania pushes local operating costs higher while gold is sold in US dollars, creating a cost mismatch. Water scarcity across African operations is intensifying as precipitation patterns shift, tightening the physical input that already acts as the binding constraint on leach-circuit throughput. Evolving artisanal mining regulations in West African countries affect community relations and the social license — meaning the informal community acceptance — required to operate in those areas.
Where is this company structurally vulnerable?
Because the structure depends on ten sovereign relationships held in parallel, any coordinated or cascading deterioration across multiple jurisdictions at once — through permit revocations, taxation restructuring, or civil disruption — removes the multi-jurisdiction continuity that makes geographic spread a production buffer. When that continuity breaks across enough jurisdictions at the same time, geographic spread becomes a concentration risk rather than a hedge, collapsing the mechanism the differentiator depends on.