Will AngloGold Ashanti's Expansion Strategy Fuel Long-Term Growth?

AngloGold Ashanti plc AU is executing a clear strategy of pursuing organic and inorganic growth. It closed the Augusta Gold Corp. acquisition on Oct. 25, boosting its footprint in the Beatty District of Nevada, which is in one of the most significant emerging gold districts in the United States. The deal adds a construction-ready, feasibility-stage project, the Reward project, to AngloGold Ashanti’s portfolio. Expansion strategy remained one of the key priorities for AngloGold Ashanti in 2025. 

The company’s Brownfields exploration focuses on adding value to existing mines, targeting low-risk, high-return growth and life-extension opportunities. As part of the Brownfields exploration, AngloGold Ashanti is moving forward with exploration at Geita and Sukari for mine life extensions. 

AU is moving forward with its investment strategy, with additional capital expenditure approved for this year at its Geita Gold Mine in Tanzania. AU has also planned $100 million investments over the next three years for the expansion of the mine. The company will raise annual exploration spend at the mine from around $35 million to $50 million. The ongoing investment aims to increase Geita’s mineral reserves by about 60%, which will extend the mine life from seven years to at least a decade by 2028.

Obuasi remains a significant pillar of its long-term strategy, which is expected to deliver 400,000 ounces of annual production at competitive costs by 2028. At the Siguiri mine, efforts are underway to improve mining volumes through ongoing improvements to fleet availability and utilization, and to introduce gravity recovery in the processing plant to further improve metallurgical recovery.

Growth Initiatives by AngloGold Ashanti’s Peers

Kinross Gold Corporation KGC is progressing well with its Advanced Exploration program at Great Bear in Ontario. Kinross Gold already completed and commissioned a natural gas pipeline. The company is currently moving ahead with the Main Project's detailed engineering, procurement and exploration. 

Kinross Gold’s investment here will include working on mills, TSF and infrastructure. Exploration is also ongoing, with the company targeting new mineralization.

Newmont Corporation NEM is progressing with several growth projects, such as Ahafo North expansion in Ghana and the Cadia Panel Caves and Tanami Expansion 2 in Australia. Recently, Newmont achieved commercial production at the Ahafo North project. Ahafo North is expected to produce between 275,000 and 325,000 ounces of gold annually over a mine life of 13 years. Newmont expects its growth projects to expand production capacity and extend mine life.

AU’s Price Performance, Valuations & Estimates

AngloGold Ashanti’s stock has appreciated a whopping 331.8% in a year, outperforming the Zacks Mining – Gold industry’s 176.9% rally. During this time, the Basic Materials sector has risen 50.9%, whereas the S&P 500 has grown 19.1%.

AngloGold Ashanti is currently trading at a forward 12-month earnings multiple of 16.65X, slightly discounted compared with the industry average of 14.62X. The stock has a Value Score of A.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AU’s 2025 sales is pegged at $9.85 billion, indicating a 70.1% year-over-year surge. The consensus mark for the year’s earnings stands at $5.59 per share, suggesting a year-over-year upsurge of 152.9%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 sales implies 22.5% year-over-year growth. The same for earnings indicates growth of 41.3%. EPS estimates for 2025 have moved south, while the same for 2026 have been trending north over the past 60 days, as seen in the chart below.

AU currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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