AngloGold Appoints Ramos as Chairwoman After Pityana Resigns

(Bloomberg) -- AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. appointed Maria Ramos as chairwoman to replace Sipho Pityana, who resigned just three months after Chief Executive Officer Kelvin Dushnisky quit.

Ramos, 61, is former CEO of South African bank Absa Group Ltd. and previously served as director-general of the nation's Treasury. She's been a director at AngloGold since May 2019 and also sits on the board of Public Investment Corp., the continent's largest money manager and one of miner's top investors.

“Ramos brings to the role exceptional experience in leadership roles across both the private and public sectors,” AngloGold said in a statement.

Ramos takes over as chairwoman of the world's No. 3 gold miner six months after Pityana was re-elected to his position in June. That comes after Christine Ramon became interim CEO in September as Dushnisky quit two years into the job to be closer to his family in Toronto, according to AngloGold.

Under Dushnisky, AngloGold started to the sell mines in South Africa and Mali to focus on its most profitable assets in Africa, Australia and the Americas. Ramos and the board fully backs AngloGold's strategic direction under Ramon, the miner said on Tuesday.

“Ramos's strong South African connections, her having been a member of the board since May 2019, and messaging suggesting no change to strategy should help to allay concerns with this being the second unexpected leadership change at AngloGold in the past six months,” Tyler Broda, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note.

AngloGold shares fell 3.1% in Johannesburg, paring this year's gain to 5.2%.

Pityana, who became chairman in 2014 after seven years on the board, presided over a period during which AngloGold trimmed its debt and redeveloped the Obuasi mine in Ghana.

“Pityana's resignation was made of his own volition,” an AngloGold spokesman said in emailed response to questions. The company has started searching for a permanent replacement for Dushnisky, he added.

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