SA’s AngloGold appoints ex-Sasol executive as new CFO

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Africa's top gold producer AngloGold Ashanti said on Monday that Christine Ramon would be replacing Richard Duffy as its chief financial officer from October 1.

Ramon, 47, is one of the most high-profile female executives in South Africa. She was CFO at petro-chemicals giant Sasol from 2006 to 2013, when the company initiated a number of projects around the globe.

During South Africa's first democratic elections that ended apartheid in 1994, Ramon was deputy finance director for the Independent Electoral Commission.

She will take up her position at AngloGold at a time when the company is cutting back on its exploration budget to focus on a few major projects, as well as restructuring and laying off thousands of workers at its loss-making Obuasi mine in Ghana.

The appointment also comes as the South African mining industry faces audits to determine if it has met a number of 2014 government targets regarding black ownership, social plans and other criteria.