Anglo American Annual Report 2012

OverviewAN EVALUATION OF THE BOARD BY ANEXTERNAL FACILITATOR, WITH NO PRIORRELATIONSHIP WITH ANGLO AMERICAN,WAS COMPLETED IN FEBRUARY 2012.For more information turn to page 96REPRESENTATION OF WOMENON THE BOARD27%For more information turn to page 91of our business unit CEOs. It is pleasing, therefore, that ourapproach to sustainable development continues to receiveglobal recognition. At the Quellaveco copper project inPeru – historically, a challenging environment in which toconduct mining operations – we successfully concludeda community ‘dialogue table’; this resulted in groundbreakingagreements that satisfy our host communitieson water use, the environment and social responsibility. In2012, Anglo American was recognised for the 10th yearrunning for excellence in sustainability by the Dow JonesSustainability Index, achieving the highest ranking in themining industry. We were also awarded a platinum rankingin the 2012 Business in the Community CorporateResponsibility Index, the UK’s leading voluntary benchmarkof corporate responsibility – the only mining group to secureplatinum status.GOVERNANCEOver the past few years, governance pressures on listedcompanies have been growing in intensity. Shareholders,institutional and individual alike, have sought to holdunderperforming managements and boards to account.In the 3½ years I have been chairman of your company,therefore, I have sought to refresh and strengthen theBoard by bringing in members with a range of skill-setsand experiences that can add value to our business andmaintain capital discipline. It is in that light that we appointedAnne Stevens in May 2012. Anne is an engineer withextensive industrial experience, including operating in arange of South American countries in which we are present.I also wish to take this opportunity to thank Dr MamphelaRamphele, who stepped down in July, for the wealth ofexperience and insight she brought to the Board’s affairs.Mamphela, who was a key figure in South Africa’s strugglefor democracy, later had a distinguished career, includingserving as vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Townand as a managing director of the World Bank.Peter Woicke will also be standing down from the Board at theforthcoming AGM. He has been a director since 2006 andchairman of the Safety and Sustainable (S&SD) Committeefor the past three years. Peter has brought a wealth ofexperience and knowledge about development in emergingeconomies to our proceedings and has ensured that AngloAmerican remains at the forefront of the major sustainabilityissues facing our industry. We are indeed grateful for hisleadership in this important area of our operations.We are fortunate to have Jack Thompson’s extensivemining experience and knowledge of safety to take overas chairman of the S&SD Committee and to build onPeter Woicke’s excellent work.The Board is also proposing the appointment of Dr ByronGrote as a non-executive director at the forthcoming AGM.Byron has more than three decades’ experience in the naturalresources sector, including nine years as chief financial officerof BP. He will be retiring from BP and stepping down from theBP board in April. It is intended that Byron will, after a period ofinduction, take over the chairmanship of the Audit Committeefrom David Challen, who has rendered outstanding service inthis role. I am glad that David, whose independence is not indoubt, has agreed, given the extensive changes to Boardmembership since late 2009, to serve for at least anotheryear as the senior independent non-executive director.In terms of the Board’s composition, the biggest change,of course, was Cynthia Carroll’s decision in October to stepdown as chief executive and from the Board, in April, withthe agreement of the Board. Cynthia’s leadership has had atransformational impact on Anglo American. She developeda clear strategy and created a strong and unified culture anda streamlined organisation.Cynthia lived out Anglo American’s values to the full and herlegacy includes, among many other things, a step-changeimprovement in safety, sustainability and the quality ofour dialogue with governments, communities and otherstakeholders around the world. As a Board, we not onlythank her but wish her all success and good wishes in theyears ahead.I led the Board’s global search to identify the best possiblecandidate for the role of chief executive. Mark Cutifani wasthe Board’s unanimous choice to succeed Cynthia, and hewill take up his post on 3 April 2013. Mark comes to us fromAngloGold Ashanti, where he led the successful restructuringand development of its business. He is an experiencedlisted-company chief executive who has a focus on creatingvalue, and a seasoned miner, with broad experience of miningoperations and projects across a wide range of commoditiesand geographies, including South Africa and the Americas, aswell as his native Australia. He is a highly respected leader inthe global mining industry, with values strongly aligned tothose of Anglo American.In terms of enhancing the Board’s contribution toAnglo American’s affairs, during the year the Board joinedthe company’s most senior executives in an internal strategyforum, and will do so again in June 2013. In addition, theresults of an external effectiveness review of the Board, whichI commissioned in 2011, were presented to the Board in2012. The results of the review, together with details of all ofour governance arrangements, can be found in the CorporateGovernance section (pages 90–134) of this report.OUTLOOKDuring 2012 there were significant macroeconomic policychanges, which should support a stronger recovery in 2013and beyond. There are now clear signs of an upturn in UShousing, which should reinforce a broader economic recoveryhelped by ultra-loose monetary policy. In China, theauthorities have also eased policy to stimulate faster growth.But the country’s newly installed leadership is mindful of theneed to rebalance the economy, which will restrain growthover the next few years. In Europe and Japan, activity hasbeen weak, but there are signs of improvement and changesin policy should boost growth in 2013. In the medium term,we see continuing robust demand for industrial commoditiesas emerging economies continue to industrialise andadvanced economies invest in upgrading their infrastructure.Sir John ParkerChairmanThe numberof people wholost their liveson companybusiness fellto 13, whileour lost-timeinjury frequencyrate, whichhad reacheda plateau inrecent years,also resumeda downwardtrend.For more informationturn to page 27Anglo American plc Annual Report 2012 03