Maria Ramos has been named the new chair of AngloGold Ashanti, replacing Sipho Pityana, who has resigned from the board.
Maria Ramos brings her wealth of experience and extensive business and political connections to the board of AngloGold.
The former CEO of Absa who also ran Transnet and served as director-general at National Treasury will be chairing the board of a company in transition. With the sale earlier in 2020 of its last operational assets in South Africa to Harmony Gold, AngloGold’s presence in South Africa has been effectively reduced to its headquarters in the Joburg CBD.
Its other South African presence, of course, is its primary listing on the JSE, and there has been speculation that it would seek to move that elsewhere in the wake of its asset disposals on the Witwatersrand. Why would a mining company maintain its main listing in a country where it has no mines?
Then again, there is more than one major mining house domiciled in London and Britain hardly produces a lump of coal these days. Lonmin’s main listing was also in London, and Britain produces no platinum. On the other hand, AngloGold is the top gold producer in Africa. Maintaining a…
