Representatives from Colombian organisations meet with AngloGold Ashanti management

JOHANNESBURG - Feb. 19, 2016 - PRLog -- Representatives of Colombian organisations visiting South Africa met with AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) on 18 February 2016. The meeting was presided by Mrs Nozipho January-Bardill, Chairperson of the Social, Ethics and Sustainability Committee for the company, together with the chief operating officer and several senior executives, John Capel, Executive Director of the Bench Marks Foundation (BMF), as well as the BMF research team.

The Colombian representatives expressed their concerns regarding the mining industry in Colombia and presented an open letter to Anglo Gold Ashanti management (included in annex), who responded with concern and showed commitment to addressing some of the issues raised by the Colombians.

The Colombian representatives were pleased that the representatives of AGA would commit to:

- Facilitating a meeting with the management of their business operation in Colombia at the end of next week, with the aim of developing mechanisms for transparency, information and engagement with communities and with civil society;

- Responding to the requests for information made by the Colombian representatives;

- Looking deeper into the human rights situation in Colombia, and in particular into the specific issues and cases mentioned during the meeting and in the open letter; and

- Staying alert to the developments with regard to the human rights situation and the armed conflict in Colombia and will look into whether they can supply details on the contract AngloGold Ashanti have with the military to secure their operations and how this impacts on their accountability.

The Bench Marks Foundation will follow up on these commitments as well as on the general performance of mining companies in relation to the human rights situation and peace efforts in Colombia.