Press Release Archive - 2004

Anglo American plc (“Anglo American”) is pleased to announce that the commissioning of the US$654 million Collahuasi Rosario Project commenced in late April, some five weeks ahead of schedule and under budget.

 The project, which will enable Collahuasi to maintain production of copper in concentrate at a long term average rate of 400,000 tonnes per annum, comprised:

• the equipping of and prestripping of 114 million tonnes of overburden so as to access the Rosario orebody;
• the construction of a 9 km long series of high speed ore belt conveyors from the Rosario mine to the plant at Ujina;
• increasing the design capacity of the concentrator plant from 60,000 tonnes per day to 110,000 tonnes per day;
• increasing the capacity of the associated infrastructure, including power supply tailings, concentrate pipeline and port concentrate storage, the latter still to be completed.

The concentrator construction period was 20 months and over 5,000 contractors were employed on site during the peak construction period.

Ramping up of production through the new milling circuit has proceeded ahead of schedule and throughput rates of above the design capacity of 110,000 tonnes per day have already been recorded. The Rosario mine is now in production and the high capacity conveyor system is fully operational.

Commenting on the successful commissioning of the project Anglo American CEO, Tony Trahar said: "The Collahuasi project team and the contractors are to be congratulated on the achievement of this significant milestone. The brownfields Rosario Project is a further demonstration of our ability and determination, together with that of our partners, to add value at this world class orebody. The fact that the project is coming on stream in a favourable copper price environment will further enhance shareholder returns.”

Notes to Editors:
Collahuasi is a joint venture between Anglo American (44%), Falconbridge (44%) and a Japanese consortium, lead by Mitsui and Co. Ltd. (12%)

Anglo American plc is one of the world's largest mining and natural resource groups. With its subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates, it is a global leader in gold, platinum group metals and diamonds, with significant interests in coal, base and ferrous metals, industrial minerals and paper and packaging. The group is geographically diverse, with operations in Africa, Europe, South and North America, Australia and Asia. (www.angloamerican.co.uk).

Disclaimer:
The information contained in press releases, annual or interim reports, analyst presentations, and financial information should not be deemed accurate or current except as of the date of issue. Anglo American plc does not, does not intend to, and specifically disclaims any duty to, update or correct such information.