Anglo American plc is a global mining company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is a major producer of diamonds, copper, nickel, iron ore and metallurgical and thermal coal and the world's largest producer of platinum, with around 40% of world output.
The following is the timeline of Anglo American:
1917 Company founded by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer along with American J.P Morgan. Initial investment was 1 million pounds raised from various sources in UK and US. The company was headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
1926 AAC became the major stakeholder in the De Beers company.
1928 AAC began mining in the Zambian copper belt.
1945 AAC moved into the coal industry by acquiring Coal Estates
1957 Sir Ernest died in Johannesburg and was succeeded by his son, Harry Oppenheimer, who also became chairman of De Beers.
Late 1950’s AAC focused on the development of the Free State goldfields (seven major mines simultaneously) and the Vaal Reefs mine. The success of the mines enabled the company to become the world’s largest gold-mining group.
1961 AAC expanded outside of southern Africa for the first time and became a major investor in the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company in Canada.
1967 Moved into the steel industry by acquiring Scaw Metals.
1967 to 1975 Continued to grow and established a number of ventures, including the Mondi Group (timber, pulp and paper), Amgold (later AngloGold Ashanti) and then Amcoal (through the consolidation of several of its mining operations in South Africa
1982 Oppenheimer retired as chairman of the AAC and was succeeded by Gavin Relly. Anglo American Corporation merged with Minorco on 24 May 1999 to form Anglo American plc with its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
2001 In 2001, De Beers was privatized after being a listed company for more than 70