South Africa's AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. said Aug. 1 that it expects to book a headline loss for the first half of between US$80 million and US$98 million, or between 19 and 23 cents per share.
By comparison, for the first half of 2016, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed miner reported headline earnings of US$93 million, or 23 cents per share.
AngloGold attributed the loss to an US$86 million posttax write-down of some of its South African assets, US$47 million worth of non-cash provisions related to potential retrenchment costs and an estimated US$46 million settlement for silicosis class action claims.
The company's bottom line was also impacted by higher operating costs and lower income from associates and joint ventures.
AngloGold expects first-half gold production to be in line with the same period of 2016 at about 1.7 million ounces. Second-quarter gold output, meanwhile, is expected to rise 10.6% year over year to 918,000 ounces.