Anglo American Annual Report 2012

2012 Iron ore demandGlobal 1,092 Mt (1)North America49 MtEurope92MtJapan and rest of Asia 132 MtChina628MtIndia54 MtCIS71 MtIncorporating:South America39 MtRest of World27 MtSource: CRU, AME, company reports andAnglo American Commodity Research estimates(1)Global iron ore, Fe unit basis2012 Iron ore productionGlobal 1,092 Mt (1)North America61 MtSouth America288 MtChina159 MtIndia82 MtCIS110 MtAustralia295MtIncorporating:Europe48MtRest of World49MtSource: CRU, AME, company reports andAnglo American Commodity Research estimates(1)Global iron ore, Fe unit basisBUSINESS OVERVIEWOur Iron Ore portfolio is based inSouth Africa and Brazil. In South Africa,we have a 69.7% (2011: 65.2%)shareholding in Kumba Iron OreLimited, a leading supplier of seaborneiron ore. Our Brazilian interestscomprise the Minas-Rio project(composed of Iron Ore Brazil’s 100%share in Anglo Ferrous Minas-RioMineração S.A., and its 49% holdingin LLX Minas-Rio, which owns the portof Açu currently under construction,and from which the project’s iron orewill be exported). Our 70% interest inthe Amapá iron ore system is now heldin Other Mining and Industrial.Kumba, listed on the JohannesburgStock Exchange, produces a leadingquality lump ore and also producespremium fine ore, in a lump-to-fineratio of 60:40. Kumba operatesthree mines – Sishen mine in theNorthern Cape, which produced33.7 million tonnes (Mt) of iron ore in2012; the new Kolomela mine, situatedclose to Sishen mine, which wasbrought into production during 2011and produced 8.5 Mt during 2012;and Thabazimbi mine in Limpopo,with an output of 0.8 Mt.Export ore is transported via theSishen/Kolomela-Saldanha iron oreexport channel (IOEC) to SaldanhaPort. The rail and port operations areowned and operated by the SouthAfrican parastatal, Transnet.Kumba is well positioned to supplythe growing Asia-Pacific andMiddle East markets and Europeansteel markets. In 2012, the companyexported 90% of its total iron oresales volumes of 44.4 Mt, with 69%of these exports destined for Chinaand the remainder for Europe, Japan,South Korea and India.Our Minas-Rio iron ore project islocated in the states of Minas Geraisand Rio de Janeiro and will includeopen pit mines and a beneficiationplant in Minas Gerais producinghigh grade pellet feed. Oncompletion of Phase 1, ore will betransported through a 525 kilometreslurry pipeline to the port of Açu inRio de Janeiro state.Kumbaproduces aleading qualitylump ore andalso producesa premiumfine ore.OPERATINGDRIVING PITSAFETY TO ANEW LEVELAs its vehicle population increases,one of the world’s biggest openpit operations is tackling the issueof vehicle collisions.As no suitable, off-the-shelfsolutions were available, Sishen’sengineers joined forces withFLARM, specialists in aviationcollision avoidance technology,to design a system tailor-madefor open pit mining.The ensuing collision avoidancesystem (CAS) links all vehiclesand safety features in oneintelligent system. It allowsfor vehicles to be remotelymonitored, and manual controlto be overridden. Notably, CASeliminates haul trucks’ notoriouslyblind spots, giving drivers amuch better all-round view.As operators gain experiencein CAS, Sishen is seeing asignificant fall in vehicle collisionsand ‘near misses’.Meanwhile, FLARM hasestablished SAFEmine, acompany set up specifically tobring Sishen’s CAS technologyto a worldwide market.ImageKumba’s Keitumetse Hynes has been trainedin CAS. She drives a haul truck at the Sisheniron ore mine in South Africa.Operating and financial reviewAnglo American plc Annual Report 2012 55