Page 50 - 100 years of Anglo American

A c entury o f s tories: Did you k now?

1 The foundation of 2 Sir Ernest 3 It was f or his financial

Anglo A merican in Oppenheimer wanted contributions to
1917 was f acilitated to name the company World W ar 1, as well
by Herbert H oover, African American to as his leading role in
the man who emphasise t he the recruitment o f
became the United company’s r oots in South combatants a nd
States’ 3 1st p resident in 1929. A t t he Africa a nd to acknowledge t he labourers f or various fronts, that
time, H oover w as a m ining engineer American investment that had made Ernest Oppenheimer was k nighted in
who was i nterested i n a ssisting the company’s e stablishment a r eality. 1921 by King George V, t he
American capital obtain a f oothold i n The name was v etoed by the American grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II.
South Africa’s l ucrative m ining investors because t he words i n t he
industry. S o, after m eeting with Ernest United States referred to “our
Oppenheimer, h e a rranged American dark-skinned fellow countrymen”, 4 In 1959, the l arge sum of
participation in the new v enture which could “ possibly r esult i n r idicule”. £300 000 was
through Newmont Mining Corporation, donated by the S ir
its b ankers J P M organ a nd the London Ernest Oppenheimer
Memorial Trust t o
merchant bankers M oran Grenfell. 5 In 1947, a N ew York improve the a ppalling
copywriter at NW Ayer
created t he tagline: living conditions in the
A D iamond is Forever. townships a round Johannesburg. To
6 In the mining world, The advertising acknowledge t hat contribution, it was
1940 to 1970 is campaign that proposed t hat the township to the
considered the golden supported i t c reated the south-west of the city, which had not
age o f s haft s inking. market for t he diamond engagement been formally named, be christened
In 1959, Vaal Reefs ring as an eternal symbol of love and Opahama, the name by which Africans
captured the world commitment. T he copywriter died in throughout the subcontinent had
shaft-sinking record – 1999, b ut, b y t hen, the percentage o f known Sir Ernest. B ut the i dea o f n aming
sinking No 2 s haft 3 00m in a 3 0-day first-time brides w ho had a d iamond an African settlement after t he great
month. A d ecade later, that record had engagement ring had grown f rom 1 0% enemy o f A frikaanerdom could n ot find
been bettered many t imes, with Ukraine’s in the 1940s to 80% i n 1 990. favour with the Nationalists. I n t he end,
Bis mine’s shaft s unk to 401m. the Johannesburg c ity f athers a dopted a
simple a bbreviation for t he name they
8 Anglo A merican’s had used all a long – Soweto.
7 In 1964, the Employee S hareholder
Rockeater, a Scheme was s tarted in
deep-water 1988 and, by the end of The CommunityMark
mineral that year, 1 33 000 9 award is awarded to
prospecting vessel, employees owned a d irect Anglo A merican in
was c hartered b y D e stake i n t he company. Anglo 2010. I t i s the first
Beers o ff t he Atlantic American has 87 000 e mployees and time the prestigious
coast o f t hen South West Africa, contractors worldwide, a nd has 37 award i s presented to
creating a n ew frontier in diamond assets on four continents, 24 of which a m ining company f or
discovery. I n 1 990, n ew methods of are i n s outhern Africa. Of the world’s responsible b usiness practices, a nd a
deep-sea d iamond mining 200m platinum, 40% is mined by Anglo focus i s on social l d iand environmental l
t
below the o cean’s surface o ff t he American and the company a lso m ines needs s.
Namibian coast s trengthened that copper, n ickel, manganese and iron ore,
country’s diamond future. as well as coal and diamonds.

10 The 68-carat Taylor-Burton d iamond became famous w hen bought by Richard B u urton in 191969
as an engagement present for E lizabeth Taylor. D iscovered i n S outh Africa’s P remie er m inene just
three years e arlier, i t w as originally set i nto a r ing – t hough Elizabeth Taylor had i t r reccast into a
necklace a fter she found the rock too h eavy to wear. Taylor sold t he diamond a d ec caded e later a fter
the couple’s s econd divorce for a fi gure believed t o b e $ 3 m illion, which she used to o fund ththe
construction of a h ospital in Botswana.

Sources: Anglo A merican, The Atlantic, The Telegraph, R epublic of Mining

50 ANGLO AMERICAN 100 YEARS